


Fox in a Wolf pack.

by Dustypup



Category: Furry (Fandom), Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Blood, Bullying, F/M, Impregnation, M/M, Mates, Mentions of Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Torture, Transformation, Werewolf, Whipping, more to come - Freeform, werefox
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 14:38:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 77,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13436919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dustypup/pseuds/Dustypup
Summary: Neil didn't have it easy in life. Abandoned at a wolf pack as a child for the way he was born, he is given the rank of Omega. Sadly this only adds to the problems he experiences, his only hope is that he one day finds his mate.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work, i hope you like it.

Hi, my name is Neil, or if you go by what the rest of my 'family' calls me, Runt, or Slut, Bitch, Useless, Mistake, Weakling, Omega, Pest, Vermin, Dead weight, Target practice, Murderer... the list goes on. As I cower here on the floor, next to my soul mate, my fox half curled up around the humans legs while looking up fearfully at our furious Alpha, we know our sad miserable existence is over. Let me start from the beginning, where my sad pathetic life started.

I'm a Werefox and was born to a loving couple of Werefoxes. My mother spoiled me rotten and my father encouraged the behaviour. I had been born in my fox form, so both thought I was a pure female when I was born and had given me the name Vivian. When I turned six months old, I shifted for the first time and boy where they surprised when I was male and my fox was female.

For several weeks they started bickering. Arguing with each other and neglecting me, denying me food, not changing me, leaving me to cry my throat raw. Even when I changed to fox form and tried to nuzzle to my mother for milk I was shoved away nine times out of ten. While I was that young, I never could see the reason why my parents wouldn't care for me but now I look back on it, I can see that they were confused and possibly ashamed to have a freak for a child.

After a month or so of mistreatment, I had stopped pining for food or love and attention and they practically stopped giving it completely. I was tiny, weak and a freak to my own parents who clearly, no longer loved me. The parental bond that I had felt so strongly at the start, was gone completely by this point. So they did what no parent should ever do, or be forced to do. Late one night, they placed me in a basket, while I was still in my full fox form and placed me on the doorstep of the community Alphas household.

They had rung the doorbell and then fled leaving me on the step. Sadly, nobody heard the doorbell so I was left out in the cold in that tiny basket all night long, with only my fur as protection from the chilly night air nearly dying from exposure. Because I had been outside all night, the weather had blown away all scents from my body so my parents couldn't be tracked down.

You are probably confused as to how I remember most of this. Simple truth is, I don't remember any of it. They did however confess most of it in a note that was left with me and the signs of their neglect can be seen in and on my body even to this day. Short, underdeveloped, weak, all because I wasn't cared for properly as a cub.

In the morning, I was shivering and cold, whimpering loudly for my mother who would never come for me. When the Luna opened the door to retrieve the morning newspaper and stumbled across my near frozen state, she freaked. I was rushed inside held close to her chest for as much warmth that she could give me.

She was swift and decisive, ordering warm bottles of milk and blankets to be put in the tumble dryer to be warmed quickly. Her mate, the Alpha, the one who now looks down on me with pure malice and disgust, rushed to assist with her orders. It took only ten minutes before I was wrapped up tight in the warm blankets and feeding hungrily from a bottle of warm milk.

Both Alpha and Luna was shocked when they read over the note left with me that explained my condition. The Alpha wanted to get rid of me, calling me an 'abomination' but the Luna, one of the only people in my life who was ever kind to me, informed him that if I go, she and her respect for him would go with me. He reluctantly conceded to her and declared that I was to be the Omega in the pack, the lowest rank and I was given a new name, Neil.

For the first few years, it was all fine. Sadly the year I first started school, Lady Luna as I had come to call her, passed away. It had been a terrible accident, we were out getting my school supplies and I had wandered off, accidentally into traffic. One moment I was watching an oncoming car deafened by the horn, the next I was in the arms of Lady Luna laying a few meters away on the ground.

She had run and covered me with her body, taking the full brunt of the impact herself, shielding me from the vehicle and the road as much as possible. She, mercifully, expired with little more than 'your ok... that's good'. After that, my life was never the same.

Alpha put me in the attic, declaring it to be the 'bedroom for useless Omegas' and in there I sat when I wasn't at school or doing chores around the house. The bed I had been given was simply a mattress on the floor with a few thin sheets to cover it. At school things were and still are, terrible. I was beaten up, spat on, and insulted on a daily basis. The teachers would not help me, calling me the murderous runt whenever they referred to me. Every day, I would return home and go direct to my bedroom to do my homework.

I was usually fed scraps or leftovers at this point, only ever given water to drink and was not allowed out of the attic when I wasn't going to school or doing tasks around the Pack House, my home. My room was hot in summer, and freezing in winter, so I would shift my bed over near the exposed chimney bricks during winter to keep warm. It was rare I was allowed out on hunts, being used as a decoy every time or left to just hunt on my own and became the new target if they failed to kill their prey.

When I turned twelve I moved my mattress over closer to the attic window so I could see outside as I slept. I even shifted the boxes and old furniture around to give a sense of a room, a space that was all my own in the dusty cluttered space. Of course all the heavy moving and shifting angered the Alpha because his room was now bellow where I slept and he had come up the next day to beat me for making so much noise.

I became adept at hiding injuries, running, hiding and repairing the hand-me-down clothes, sheets, and pillows I was given. I had found an old set of curtains in a box in the very back corner of the attic and now used them over the attic window.

When I entered high school the abuse got worse. Teachers still would not help me, even when I had broken bones or be bleeding to whatever degree. I knew my place, I am not just an omega, I am bellow everyone even other Omegas and therefore I had no right to fend them off. I would never bother the nurse, or the vet, even when I was horribly injured, sometimes near lethally. I would just return to my room, my den in the attic and continue to meek out a feeble existence.

I was woken up by a loud banging on the door on the opposite side of the attic loft from my bed. It burst open a few seconds later with one of the higher up females leaning in, not wanting to enter my room in case she contracted something.

"Get up freak!" she squealed loudly jolting me from the pleasant dreams I had been having about finding my mate and being happy for the rest of my life, those dreams were rare, usually it was about Lady Lunas death or my abuse "Get down to the kitchen and cook breakfast! NOW!" she hadn't even waited for me to respond, slamming the door and disappearing.

I got up slowly with a sigh, looking out the semi circle gable window as I got dressed in my tatty, ratty clothes before making my way across the cold room to the door. It was getting into winter and my attic room was freezing as usual. The only sources of heat I had were the bricks of the chimneys that rose from the floors below out the roof to vent the smoke and gasses. I wasn't given any heating sources to heat the large room. My room was bigger than any other one in the house, if only for the fact that it was the attic and stretched to every corner of the buildings roof space.

I made my way down to the kitchen, being quiet not to wake anyone as I walked down the stairs and halls. At least these areas of the house were warm and I could feel myself getting comfortable in the warmth. Luce was at the foot of the main stairs again as usual, standing perfectly still as mops, brooms, cloths and other cleaning products darted around the room around him. I gave him my usual morning wave as I walked past towards the kitchen.

Luce and I got on well, both of us used to being treated like we were invisible. I often had to assist him in cleaning, never being trusted with the pups of the pack. Whenever the idea of my watching the pups came up, the females would protest that they wanted them to live, not be killed by a murderer.

I pottered around in the kitchen as usual, making the usual chocolate chip pancakes, berry pancakes, toast, bacon, eggs, large pots of coffee, tea and doughnuts for the inhabitance of the pack house. It was one of my daily tasks, and I was expected to have it all done before I even thought of going to have my daily cold shower. I wasn't allowed to use the hot water for my showers, constantly being told that 'murderers don't deserve hot water'.

After making sure it would all stay warm for at least two hours, I made my way to the tiny bathroom that had been reserved for me. It was off of the laundry and had once been used as the shower to clean the mud off of yourself before you entered the house. I was quick as usual, soaping myself and scrubbing with as little water interaction as possible before I rinsed off. It's surprising I never suffered from hypothermia in the cold winter months but I guess after suffering the cold water for so long, I had gotten used to it.

The last time I had had a hot shower, I was still young, only a few months over seven. One of the older females had taken pity on me in the middle of winter and had taken me to the bathroom. The Alpha had found us before I had gotten into the shower. As punishment, he trapped me in the shower stall in human form and turned the shower to pure hot water.

The scream that was released from my throat... demons must have flinched from it. No matter what I did I couldn't get away from the water, even shifting to fox form only allowed it to stay against my skin longer. The door to the bathroom flew off of its hinges and disintegrated into splinters on the opposite side of the room a few seconds later. Luce standing in the now void door way in his half form, wings fully extended and looking quite angry.

The water stopped as he stalked towards the shower stall, Luce having used his magic to turn off the flow as he walked across the room before he stopped in front of the Alpha and growled loudly.

"Stand aside Alpha" he demanded only getting a deep growl in return, the sound making me back up against the other side of the stall, the fresh burns aching as I did.

"Watch who you are talking to, Sigma!" Alpha retorted "You are part of my pack, and that means you Follow MY orders!"

"You forget Skylar," Luce retorted "I serve, because I want to, there is NOBODY in this pack that can stand up to me and you know it. The last time I used my full power it took the entire council of Alphas and their Betas to take me down and it was only just. Now stand aside, or I will make you move." Sadly I cant remember much more past the Alpha giving a growl and stepping aside, or thankfully in my case.

When I finished my shower, I dressed quickly in my tattered clothes to stay mostly warm before walking back out to the kitchen to see breakfast in full swing. I remember eyeing a piece of bacon but knew I would need to wait for everyone else to finish and have what was left over, if anything. The last time I had acted on my hunger, I was given a broken rib by one of the dominant males.

"Runt! Clean the damn dishes!" One of said males yelled and threw his fork at me. I didn't dodge, allowing it to impact with my shoulder and dig in as they usually did when they threw things at me. I gave a slight yelp at the latest injury and pulled the offending implement loose, blood then starting to trickle from the wound.

"Yes sir." I responded, not coldly but brokenly. By the time I had finished the dishes everyone was gone from the dining room, as usual. Almost all of the food was gone by time I got to eat. Leaving me with the smallest berry pancakes, a cold cup of coffee and a piece of dry, almost burned, cold toast. Polishing that off I made my way quickly back to my room to get dressed in school clothes before walking the hour long walk to school.

I was never given a lift, or permitted to catch the bus. That was for anyone who was not a murderer. Even the other Omegas were permitted to take the bus but I was forced to walk every day. My fox walked with me, to my left and a pace behind me, she was normally happy go lucky and outgoing. However today was different. Today I was officially eighteen, the age where I was supposed to find my mate, the love of my life. However she knew that no matter who it was, no one in this pack would ever accept us. Even though it was my birthday, I wouldn't get a cake, I wouldn't get gifts, I would get pain as I did every day of every year.

"We have been alone this long," I muttered to her "With only each other for company and for us, that's all we need." she looked up at me and gave a huff. We both knew I didn't mean it truly, deep down we both hoped desperately that we would find our mate and he would love us forever. Yes I do mean 'he', being a female in fox form, I had openly accepted that I would eventually find a loving tod to be with. Till now, that was the only thing driving us on in life and as much as she dislikes the idea, Lien, my fox, wouldn't have been able to stop me from ending my life if I had wanted to.

When I entered the school building, I was met by the usual 'welcoming party', Simba, the next Alpha to the Leo lion pride, his sisters and brother and a few others who sat in the background to cheer him on.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" Simba demanded, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt.

"To class." I responded, keeping my eyes down. I knew it was stupid to have given him an answer but not answering was just as dangerous.

"Well today murderer, we have a few surprises for you, freak!" he sneered. A moment later his fist connected with the side of my face sending me into the wall next to us. "Get It!"

As their fists and shoes connected with my body, I tried to zone it out. It was the standard stuff for a Monday at school. When I heard a click, I knew things were going to go bad quickly I just didn't know how bad. I looked up in time to see the flick knife slide through my shirt and jacket, slicing it open, and my skin at the same time. I screamed for the first time in years, the pure burning pain that radiated from where the blade cut me was agony.

It was like lava was radiating from where the knife dragged through my flesh. A hot deep burning that made even Lien cry with pain and writhe on the floor across from me. I had endured being attacked by Alphas and Betas, in both Were and human form, and this was a new pain I had never before felt in my life.

Simba's sisters held me down while he carved 'Fag', 'freak', 'omega', and 'murderer' into the skin on my chest and belly with the sharp blade before they were finished.

"Now no matter where you go," Simba sneered again looking down at me "Everyone will always know what you are, this silver blade will make sure of that!" they got off me, leaving me bleeding and bruised on the floor.

Silver, how had he managed to get a silver bladed knife? I guess that didn't matter now. Silver had an adverse reaction to Weres, it causes problems for the healing process that can be lethal and if not, the wounds will cause a scar or never heal properly. It also made the wounds hurt more, explaining the huge amounts of pain. It was almost forbidden to possess the metal within pack lands, extreme punishments were handed out for those who even owned silver tableware without permission.

I staggered to my feet, body burning from the pain but somehow I managed to get to the front door of the school, blood dripping to the floor as I moved.

"Fuck school!" I thought "Not today, I'm not doing school today!" I clutched at my chest, starting to cry as I staggered away from the building. I made my way into the forest, shifting to my fox form once I was safely within the trees. The shift helped me heal a little, the wound at least closing and causing me to shed my blood stained clothes. I wandered around the forest for a while, not really sure where I was going till I was at the top of a large cliff.

"Don't you dare!" I heard Lien speak in my mind and I gave a whimper flopping down. I laid there for some time arguing with Lien what to do now. I was badly injured, the pain from the silver still burning through my body and probably would continue to do so for some time.

I watched birds fly around far bellow at the bottom of the cliff, how they seemed so free, so unlike me. I was trapped, trapped by my rank, by my reputation and by the pack borders. I had nowhere to turn to except inwards to Lien.

Three hours passed on that cliff, watching the world around us until we noticed a strange smell from the trees behind us. How had we not noticed it before? It was so close but it had taken the wind to shift for me to notice it.

"Human." my mind first rang out, identifying part of the smell, another part warning me of the danger that it would posses.

"MATE!" Lien called loudly and excitedly and I quickly snapped my head in the direction of the smell. I kept my gaze, knowing I saw him duck back behind cover when I looked in his direction. I gave a huff and a bark, seeing a male human look around the side of the tree then slowly step out.

He was handsome, to me anyway, at barely five foot eight he was taller than me and not overly athletic. Grey eyes looked back at my own foxy ones and he couldn't be much older than myself. I then notice he had my blood soaked clothes in his hands, the clothes I had abandoned when I shifted.

"Well shit." I thought and rolled my eyes, he had seen us shift form... we are now, in so much trouble.

"At least we don't need to explain it to him!" Lien said gleefully and I sighed, it wasn't something to be pleased about. I stood slowly and walked over to him, sitting at his feet and nuzzled at the clothes.

"Oh you want these?" he asked, his voice a mid tone, not deep but not light either but it sent a shiver of joy through me and I nodded. He placed them down in front of me and I regarded them for a moment.

"Well we're already breaking one rule... time for another." Lien said and we shifted, stopping at mid form. While I would have been forgiven or possibly excused for changing to full form, this form was forbidden, with harsh repercussions. He gawked openly, looking me up and down before reaching out to rub at the top of my head, almost to check if I was real or not, even tugging on my ears, quite painfully at that causing me to pull away and shake my head.

"Hey, those are sensitive you know." I said, my voice light and feminine, an effect of the gender shift. His hand snapping away from me, causing Lien to whine in my head wanting the contact back.

"S...Sorry," he looked to the ground with a slight blush to his face "I...I thought you were a guy though." I huffed and rolled my eyes.

"Its... Complicated." I told him with a sigh and moved my arms to cover my chest and crotch.

"But... you were a guy before you..." I snapped my eyes to his face "Got all fluffy." I gave a soft growl.

"I said its complicated!" I rolled my eyes and gave a sigh "I'm guessing you... saw all of it..." he nodded slowly and I gave a groan. Now not only had I broken the rules and shifted during the day but I had shifted in front of a human. We sat together in silence for several minutes while I regarded my bloodied clothes, not really wanting to get into them, his hand returning after a few minutes to stroke my ears softly.

"You're... really pretty," he says after a few minutes of petting "And your fur is so soft..." Great, why did he need to say that? That would make what I needed to tell him harder.

"You need to go," I told him, the words painful to my heart, but it was true "If you stay, the others will kill you when they find you."

"Others?" he asked his face lighting up with excitement.

"No!" I exclaimed jumping to my feet "Go! Leave the forest, don't go near the town, avoid any animals you see!" I gave him a shove in the direction he needed to go, Lien was screaming at me to stop but I couldn't.

"But I..." he started and I pushed him again.

"Go! Please... don't make this harder than it already is." I trailed off and he looked at me for a moment before nodding and walking away.

I changed to full form and grabbed my clothes in my muzzle before heading back home. Luce noticed me running up to the back door out of the forest and opened the door helping me get inside then up to my bedroom to hide till later on.

My peace was interrupted by my door bursting open a few hours later, the Alpha storming in and grabbing me by my hair roughly and he snarled angrily at me.

"I just got told by Simba Leo that you skipped school today!" he said forcing me to stand "AND that you Shifted! During the DAY!" I whimpered trying to squirm from his tight grasp which never relented and only got tighter.

"How DARE you break the rules!" he sneered dragging me forcibly out of my room and downstairs. I whimpered and tried to get free as he took me down past everyone to the basement. I knew where we were headed, the punishment room in the basements. I had been there so many times before, usually when someone blamed me for something I didn't do, or I failed during a hunt with the pack.

The Punishment room could be considered a BDSM dungeon at best and hellish torture chamber at worse. Chains hung from the walls, cages from the ceiling, a large six food diameter wagon wheel to be strapped to and beaten, a horse to lay people on and attach heavy weights to their arms and legs. A set of stocks and on one wall was all the punishment devices and implements. Blades designed to cause more pain, spreaders designed to force open the mouth or other orifices to extreme dimensions. Branding irons, bottles of wolfs-bane or quick silver and the selection of whips.

There were a few unique whips, invented specifically for Weres. The Kitsune, a Cat of nine tails but it had silver instead of iron barbs embedded in the leather. The silver tongue, a bull whip with silver in it just like the Kitsune. There was also alternatives to these called the 'Dragons breath' or 'Dragons tails'. Everyone feared these, they were the Silver tongue or the Kitsune, drenched in Wolfs-bane. The final form was called the 'Dragons tongue' this was the worse, a Silver tongue drenched in quick silver and would cause excruciating pain for several days until death.

These techniques were almost forbidden to use, it took a majority vote from the council to allow their use. The Wolfs-bane and silver would prevent the healing process and cause such unbelievable amounts of pain it could be a privilege to pass out or die from the abuse.

Over by the wheel was the Alphas son, the soon to be Alpha Callen. He was kind, and tried to be compassionate to everyone he met. Tall, handsome and strong, everyone was looking forward to him becoming Alpha. He gave me an apologetic look as I was shoved in his direction forcibly.

"Strap him down!" Alpha ordered as he stalked over to the devices "Back facing outwards!"

"Yes sir." Callen said with an irritated sigh and guided me to the position and strapped me to the wheel, spread eagled and exposed with no way of seeing what was going on behind me.

"Omega!" Alpha started, the sound of utter malice in his voice "SHIFT! Mid form! You will BOTH be punished!" he was looking down at Lien next to me and I whimpered doing as told shifting into my anthro, or mid form. I had wanted to keep Lien separate, away from the pain that was going to be inflicted.

"Omega," he started once more this time more menacing "You have broken one of the laws that keeps our society safe as well as skip school! There is nothing that you can say in your defence, seeing as the son of one of the most trusted alphas of our community told me everything! You are here for your punishment, you are sentenced to five lashes, with a Dragons tails!"

"Father!" Callen cut in stepping between myself and his father "You and I both know that that is too extreme a punishment for a minor and for this infraction!"

"Callen, you are here to witness only! Be silent or I will use the Kitsune on you next," he growled loudly barely covering the sloshing of the whip in the wolves-bane solution "Now stand aside!" I gave a whimper to him making Callen look back and I shook my head, trying to mentally tell him I didn't want him to suffer too, so Callen reluctantly moved leaving me exposed once more.

The swoosh of the flying whip ended in the expected, loud slap-crack, as it impacted with my furry red-orange back. It wasn't even a second before I screamed as the burning pain seared from my back. My vision flashed white then returned blurred with tears as the silver sliced my skin open and the wolves-bane seeped into the open wound causing the burning to get even worse.

"One" came the count from the Alpha before the next crack and the white hot spears of pain seared through me. My scream wasn't as loud as the first but was still loud, my throat hurting from the force of my screaming and was followed by "Two."

The next crack was added with a splatter sound above me on the wall. My mind was now starting to become reasonably numb to the pain yet still registered the increasing, burning, firey pain. I weakly looked up seeing some blood had splattered on the wall and ceiling, having obviously gotten on the whip and flicked off with the strike. There was a 'tch' behind me and I managed to look back and saw Alpha was wiping his face clean of my blood. The look he had was as if he was going to catch something from my blood and he almost seemed desperate to get it off.

Two lashes later I wasn't even crying any more my face fur matted with tears. I could feel blood running down the fur on my back, legs and tail, dripping onto the floor in a steadily growing puddle bellow me. I tried to just focus on my breathing, taking in slow deep breaths as my throat burning almost as bad as my back and I hung limp from the restraints.

"Get that thing out of here," Alpha spat at me after the last lash, stepping over and grabbing me by my ear, pulling on it painfully "Remember this Murderer, next time, I will spare no mercy for you!" he said making me nod.

"Y...yes...A...Alpha." I breathed out to him, he slapped on the back of my head painfully hard then stormed out.

"Neil," Callen said walking over and unstrapping me from the wheel, catching me as I slumped forward and downwards towards the floor "Neil, stay with me here... breath, deep breaths... don't think about shifting yet... LUCE!" Callen Bellowed out as he slowly sat me to the floor in the puddle of blood that was forming.

"Yes master Callen?" came the calm response from the Sigma as he entered the room. I could feel his eyes on me but had no energy to look up to see them.

"Clear the bathroom, get a medical kit and the Anti-bane wash and please hurry, we will meet you there." Callen said petting my ears. Luce walked off and I sat there for a few more minutes just breathing as he pet my ears before Callen helped me back to my feet.

"C'mon Neil, we need to get you cleaned up." He told me helping me limp out of the room and towards the bathroom. My paws slipped on the floor due to the blood covering them and I had little strength to stand with as we made our way over the polished floor boards and tiles then up the stairs. I panted and breathed heavily as we got to the general bathroom, well aware I was leaving a bloody trail as we progressed.

"P...Please," I whimpered softly looking up at Callen "Just... Let me die... I...I N...Need to clean up the mess I...I made A..Alpha will..." I breathed out and slipped from his grasp to the tiled floor of the bathroom with a thud on my side, collapsing as a bloodied mess of fur. I heard him sigh and then pull me into the room more, closing the door.

When I went to shift back to human form, I felt his hand on the scruff of my neck making me stop with a whimper.

"Don't shift," he warned "We need to check your wounds, there is a possibility that a piece of silver dislodged into your back. If you shift, it could get stuck, or worse." we stayed there for a moment spread out on the bathroom floor until he slowly got off me, picking me up with ease before laying me on the table in the centre of the room stomach down. I knew to trust him, he, like Luce tried to be sympathetic towards me. It happened often that, while using the whips, the barbs would get stuck and remain behind in the wound.

"Is it all ready?" he asked Luce who simply nodded holding up a small bag as I heard him walk in followed by the click of the door closing. I heard him click his fingers and watched as the mop and bucket came out of the closet at the end of the room and started cleaning up the blood on the floor.

"Yes, I have the kit, you will need to hold her steady, this will hurt," Luce said as he approached me, standing on my left, Callen on my right "Stay calm Neil, I don't want to hurt you for no reason." I nodded and then the room went dark. There was a click as a torch was turned on illuminating the room a bit and was then pointed at my back.

"I can't see anything... we need to wash some of this blood off." Callen said with a sigh, a few moments later I yelped as a bucket of warm water was poured carefully onto me causing the wounds to burn anew but before I could move away to cower, Callen was holding me down again by my scruff and one of my arms.

"I can see three... no four pieces," Came the report from Callen "Hand me the tweezers." there was a shuffle between them before it all went still till I could feel him pulling it from my back causing me to flinch and whimper softly then squirm just before it was pulled free. There was a soft clink to my left as the tiny silver shard was placed in a kidney bowl, followed quickly by three others and then placed in front of me.

"That's it, Lights!" Callen ordered and the room lit up again as Luce turned them back on. I felt my belly gurgle and I gave a soft groan.

"I...I need..." I started getting their attention and Luce stepped closer.

"Need what?" Luce asked curious and stopped walking over.

"A Bucket!" I gurgled and in one swift move he gave the one next to him a kick, it sliding over the floor with ease and stopping in front of me, into which I promptly threw up.

"Uh Oh," Callen said with a sigh and stroked at my ears to try to comfort me as I emptied what little I had in my stomach "That's not a good thing... that means the Wolves-bane has made its way into your system... Luce, do we have the injection? We need to neutralise this quickly." Luce opened the kit and rummaged through it, pulling out a syringe of a bright orange, near glowing fluid and handed it over.

"Ok, Neil, stay calm for me, this may sting a little. This stuff wont hurt you, its designed solely with the ability to break down and neutralise Wolves-bane," Callen informed me before injecting me in the arm a warm tingling flowing through me from the site, the light pinch being the softest thing I had experienced that day from anyone but my mate "Ok, we still cant let him shift before the wash... Luce get her up and I'll get the shower ready."

I felt Luce place his arms under mine and gently help me into a sitting position, letting me sit there for a minute or two to settle my stomach before moving to standing. The feeling of my own blood running down my back was uncomfortable and disconcerting, especially seeing as my fur felt plastered to my back. He let me steady myself on my feet/paws, the world a little... wobbly for me at the moment with my blood loss.

"Ok, I got the shower going, bring her over." Callen called from the cubical in front of me to the right. I was lead over to see a near naked Callen standing in the shower cubical wearing only his underwear. He grabbed my arm gently and pulled me in, the curtain shutting a behind him leaving me sealed in with the hunk of a man. He wasn't ready for what happened next though, as the warm shower water hit me, I panicked remembering the last hot shower I had before then. I instantly squeezed into the corner of the stall, trying to make myself smaller as I started crying and whimpering loudly.

"P...Please no...I...I'll be good! I swear! I'll be good!" I started pleading him, my eyes were blurred with tears and the memory flashing through my mind of the searing, burning pain that didn't seem to stop the pain from my back being pressed to the wall, the cold tiles not helping in any way to sooth the burn.

"Neil, Stop! I'm not going to hurt you!" he started grabbing my arms and shaking me but I tried to squirm free of him barely hearing him "Neil? Neil? LIEN!" That was all it took for her to take over, pushing me into the back of our mind forcing me to watch.

"Alpha!" she barked, looking at him a little surprised "I... I'm sorry... we're listening." He sighed and nodded.

"Look, if I could avoid the water being this warm I would," he started, helping us step out of the corner "But this stuff needs warm to hot water to work properly, ok?" I nodded and Lien gave me back control slowly as Callen grabbed a bottle from Luce's hand that had poked through the shower curtain. Its contents was a marbled white and orange jell and had no label.

"I...I'm sorry Alpha... I... I didn't mean.." he raised his hand to silence me.

"Neil, it's ok, I know all about what happened. You owe me no apology, ok?" I nodded slowly and he smiled.

"Ok, turn around, hands on the wall either side of your head." he ordered and... I obeyed. I will admit it may seem odd to be in such a position with someone behind me but Callen was more my Alpha than his father was and I trusted him.

"Ok, this is likely to sting a little but it needs to be done, just try to stay calm." he said and I could hear him squirting some of the marbled white and orange stuff onto his hand and then felt as he started massaging it into the fur on my shoulders before adding a generous amount and in one swift move, wiped it down my back from neck to tail, covering everything. Naturally I yelped at the biting stinging burn that I was suddenly experiencing clenching my claws against the tiles half expecting it to sizzle on my back.

"Shh, Shh, stay calm, stay calm, it will fade," he said as he started kneading it into my fur making it froth "We need to cover everything from your neck down, this stuff is like the injection, it breaks down the toxins. However because my father used liquid wolves-bane and not the plant, it could have dripped and run lower over you. If it enters your pours it will continue to do internal damage."

I nodded, whimpering slightly then blushed when he started washing my tail. We were silent for a time, only the smell of the lotion and blood and the sound of the shower filling the air. He cleaned all the way down my legs to my feet, even my arms and hands, all the while with a gentleness that I didn't expect from anyone in this pack, him most of all.

"Ok, Turn." he said and again, I did as he told me. He had a smile on his face but not one of sadistic pleasure or of revengeful glee, or even one of pervertedness from my nakedness in front of him. No it was more a calm, warm, near loving smile mixed with concern you might expect from any nurse or doctor who loved their job helping people.

"A...Alpha.. Sir..." I started as he applied the jell to just bellow my neck and started kneading.

"I have told you before Neil, It's Callen, no Sir, no Alpha," my ears flattened as I blushed feeling him work lower, massaging over my breasts, ones I wish I didn't have. C cup in size, they were sensitive as you would expect for any woman's breasts and having someone touch them was deeply embarrassing.

"I...I wanted to ask you," I started slowly "Why?" he stopped and looked up into my eyes, his left hand on the top of my left breasts, his right between them.

"Why what?" he asked waiting for me to respond.

"Why... are you being so nice to me?" I asked, tears starting to appear in my eyes once more "Why? When I... I killed... When I'm the reason that your mother... Lady Luna is..." he stopped me from continuing, wrapping a hand, which he had rinsed, around my muzzle to hold it closed, tears running down my cheeks matting my fur once more.

"Because you didn't kill her," he says simply and softly, his eyes never leaving mine "Neil, my Mother did what I would hope ANY member of this pack would or will do, Sacrifice themselves for a cub, even if it was not one of their own."

"B...But I..." I started again and his hand moved to my cheek wiping away my tears.

"She did one of the most noble things any pack member can do," he said smiling "And if you had died and she lived, she would have never forgiven herself, just as she would be disgusted by the way this pack treats you." I gave a whimper looking at him, then threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and planting my eyes in the crook of his neck and crying loudly. He sighed softly and wrapped his arms around me as gently as he could while supporting my weight.

"Ok, ok, calm down shhhh, lets finish your shower ok?" he asked and I sniffed and nodded taking a step back from him deeply embarrassed about my outburst.

"S...sorry." I said and he shook his head.

"Don't be, you have nothing to apologise for," he responded returning to scrubbing my breasts and then belly "Ok, there is one area that I'll get you to do, here," he squirted the stuff onto my hands then pointed downwards causing me to blush deeply.

"I'm not washing there," he said with a chuckle "I may be male, but I'm sorry to say I'm not your mate, only he and you should touch down there." I chuckled lightly and nodded doing as he ordered me, he conveniently turned away to hand Luce the near empty bottle, giving me enough time to scrub quickly.

"Ok, Time to rinse off" he said grabbing the shower head off of its hook. It was one of those shower heads on a hose to help with cleaning which was useful when you are sometimes covered in fur, my shower only had a fixed head so this was a luxury to me.

"Turn around, I'll do your back first." he commanded getting me to rotate on the spot again. The warm water cascading down my back still caused me to hiss softly in discomfort and when I looked down I gave a slight whimper of disgust and shame at the bloody red soap suds that now circled the drain.

He was thorough, making sure he got everywhere that the soap had touched and even smoothed down my fur with his free hand as he went.

"You know Neil... I have always liked your fur," he said suddenly making me jump a little "Even with how terribly they have you living, your fur has always been so soft." He turned me around showing me that smile again which warmed my damaged heart as he started rinsing me off again getting me soap free.

"Ok, here's the deal," he says putting the shower head back on its hook "From now on, you can shower in my bathroom ok? Make sure I am in the house before you go in there though just in case ok?" I nodded and he turned off the water.

"Good girl, now Shift, full fox form." he says, I give a slight whimper but nodded shrinking down to my fox form, the wounds on my back not healing but it made it easier for him to lift me and wrap me in a black towel that had been handed him through the curtain and the passed me out to Luce who dried me carefully before he placed me on the table once more, it now cleaned, mostly, of blood.

"Eww! What is that THING doing in here!" I heard and looked up seeing one of the other males, having come in just as I was being placed on the table.

"Yeah, doesn't it know that the shower for Murderers is behind the Laundry!?" another asked insultingly "I'm not showering with IT in here!" I whimpered softly as they started walking towards me and Luce who hadn't moved his face blank of emotion as he watched them.

"One more step," Callens voice suddenly rang out from the cubical as he stepped out of it a towel wrapped around his waist "One more word... and it will be the last things you will do in this pack!" they recoiled seeing him, obviously not having expected him to be in the room.

"C...Callen, Sir!" they said in unison snapping to attention.

"Save it! Have your showers, shut up and then get out!" he said angrily, a deep growl coming from him. They nodded quickly getting into a shower cubical and closing the curtains with their clothes still on.

"Ok... We ready?" he asked looking to Luce after a sigh to try to settle himself and Luce nodded and busied himself drying me again gently before pulling the towel away. When I looked up they had donned gloves and masks then had me lay down.

"Ok, first things first, this is a local, it will numb the area," Luce said holding up a syringe and then Injected me gently in several spots on my back "There are a couple we need to stitch closed he really did a number on you." I nodded laying my head back down and stayed still, ears flat against my skull, after a few minutes and a few more people coming in for showers Luce poked at my back. I gave no response even though I could still feel it a little, I just I didn't really care, the stitches would hurt but I had had worse.

"Ok, lets begin." he said and started, Callen watched, trying to keep me relaxed the whole time by gently stroking my head or forelegs. Neither of them noticed my occasional flinch as they shaved my fur short then began stitching, they didn't even notice the others coming and going in the room, most looking at me with disgust, a few with nothing more than disinterest and some with an emotion I had never seen before from anyone in my pack... Pride, and sympathy, possibly from just seeing me going through so much and still holding on.

"Ok, stitching is done," Luce said a few minutes later as he grabbed the bandages "Callen, Apply the antiseptic cream liberally to the area." I heard Callen moving around and a few moments later I felt the gooey cream and my Alpha's soft hands rubbing over my back. A few seconds later Luce was placing gauze bandages on my back and then securing it with cloth bandages.

"Two days," Luce says as he secures the bandages "No shifting for two days at least and if I need to put a cone of shame on you for biting at and chewing your stitches little lady, I'll make sure it has butterflies, unicorns and rainbows on it." there was snickering from around the room that was silenced by a growl from Callen.

"Don't worry guys, while she is healing, there are a few jobs available around the pack house!" Callen called out with an evil grin "You three, your going to clean this house till its spotless, gardens included and you four! Oh I have something Special for you to do!"

I was lifted by Callens gentle hands and laid against his chest like I was a puppy, my chin resting on his shoulder.

"Ok, you're in for a treat little lady," he says with a smile carrying me out of the bathroom, walking upstairs towards the bedrooms "You get to stay in my room for a few days so I can keep an eye on you. Now no protesting its already decided. No shifting, no school and no chores for a few days understand?" I gave a whimper and nodded earning a pat to the head.

"Good girl, Luce will bring you your meals and tomorrow I'll give you a soak in the bathtub so long as your back is still in good enough condition," I gave a slight growl to all of his referring to me as 'girl' and 'lady' and nipped lightly at his ear making him chuckle "Now now, be good, others are watching and while they can't do anything on their own, they could tell my father." I gave a whimper at this and nodded lightly.

There was a warm breeze as we entered his room, one of the few rooms with its own fireplace. It used to be a library before it was changed to his bedroom by his loving mother. It was reasonably sized, only dwarfed, as a bedroom at least, by the master bedroom and my own but then that wasn't really a bedroom. A new library had been tacked onto the building to replace the old one.

Opposite the fire was his king sized bed and around the window, which overlooked the training grounds to the side of the house, was what was once a book case. Now one side was a closet, the top was storage spaces, and the other display shelving for his valuable items and things he wished to display, including a picture of his mother. A desk sat next to the door to the en suit bathroom that was on the wall next to the wardrobe, the desk between the door and the fireplace. On the other side to the fireplace was a wicker basket with a royal blue pillow inside it.

Humans often have plushi's that they are given when they are born, Weres are given a basket or bed and it will often stay with them for life. Callens had been hand made by his mother while she was pregnant with him and even Luce did not touch it. It was made from oak, with a single, thick band of gold woven a few rows from the top. The pillow was made from soft velvet stuffed with down feathers from chicks, collected from a local chicken farm when their chicks had started moulting them. The basket had been a labour of love from her which showed in its construction.

Sitting on the pillow was Callens wolf, Lacen, his snow white fur as clean as always. He didn't look bothered by my presence but more concerned for me, his tail wagged when my orange eyes met his blues and he 'smiled' at me his lips pulling back. However there was something else that quickly drew my attention once I returned my tail wag to him, weak as the wag was. Next to his basket was another one, slightly smaller but just as well crafted.

"Ah I see you've noticed!" Callen said with a chuckle and closed the door behind him. He walked over to it and gently stood me on all fours in front of it and I wobbled a little, unsteady on my feet. I gave it a few light exploratory sniffs curious about it. Made of mahogany wicker, with a silver band at the same spot as the gold on Callen's basket, it looked like each stick had been polished before being woven. The pillow was made of a royal purple velvet and smelled like it was stuffed with the same soft down feathers that Callens own had.

"I'm sorry I never gave it to you," Callen said above me making me look up at him, eyes wide "My mother made this for you, she was going to present it to you on your next birthday the year she..." he trailed off and I drooped.

"My father wanted it destroyed but I managed to sneak it away along with her supplies and finished it for you. Sadly I could never give it to you because of my father... She loved you, you know, you were the second child she had always wanted." Lacen started wagging his tail again and I whimpered softly.

"I don't deserve it," I managed, while it may have sounded like barking or, in my case, squeaking and huffing to humans. However Lacen and Callen could understand me, a trait that all weres shared "Not...not after..." I was cut off by a deep growl and Lacen snapping in front of my nose making me yelp and jump back.

"If you didn't," Callen said with a light chuckle shooing Lacen back to his basket "She wouldn't have made it, Silver isn't cheap or easy to get you know but to her...you are worth more than this house in pure gold." he lifted me gently and laid me down in the basket and gently pet my head as I sniffed around it.

"Now, this is where I expect you to sleep while in here ok? Luce said Culem may visit you to keep you company, if anyone comes in pretend to be asleep even if your in the middle of the floor. The bed isn't off limits, but I'd rather you didn't jump up there with your back in its condition ok? You know where the bathroom is, there are steps to get onto the toilet if you need it, I tend to enjoy being in full form in my room." I nodded and wagged my tail lightly looking up at him.

"Thank you...Alpha" I said and he tapped me on the nose firmly.

"Ah! Told you, Callen, not Alpha or sir," he said with a smile "I don't call you runt or Omega, so you don't call me Alpha, got it?" I nodded slowly and he smiled petting me again.

"Now sleep, I have a few things to deal with before dinner," with that he straightened up "Oh, and if you want to move closer to the fire, push, don't pull, Lacen will be remaining here as long as possible, he will tell me if you have been naughty." he chuckled and walked out, closing the door behind him and I looked to Lacen who simply smiled again and wagged his tail.

It was only ten minutes later that I moved the basket, moving it so I could watch the flames and be a little closer. For the first time in a long time I was comfortably warm, I may have been in a bit of pain, an increasing amount in fact as the local wore off but I was warm and comfortable. Lacen, to my surprise, stepped out of his basket and curled up next to my own, I felt safe with him so close and my eyes eventually started to droop. Safe, Warm, reasonably comfortable, I was asleep soon after.


	2. Chapter 2

"Callen, are you in he...WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!?" A loud voice boomed out and I jumped awake. I was automatically aware Lacen was gone, that the fire had dimmed to smouldering charcoal and looming over me was the devil himself, Callens Father, Alpha Smith.

"I asked you a question Runt!" he demanded grabbing me by my scruff of my neck above the bandages and lifting me with one sharp, hard and painful jerk. obviously reopening wounds on my back that had managed to close causing me to yelp "Why. Are. You. Here!? And it better be a good answer or I'll use you to restart that fire!" I whimpered loudly, wheezing from his firm grip at the fur around my neck.

"Put her DOWN Alpha!" Luce's voice called out and he turned to see Culem sitting by the door having just come in. The snow-leopard flicked his tail irritably and had narrowed his ice blue eyes "Do it gently. You have five seconds to comply."

"And why should I do as you tell me to?" he responded smugly "You can't touch me!"

"Three seconds Alpha." came the cold response from the feline and Alpha Smith snickered.

"I'll call your bluff, you can't touch me!" he was smug, and the feline gave a disappoint sigh and faded away "Ha! I knew yo..." The door burst open with a strong gust of air surprising him before he could finish his sentence. Luce, now in his hybrid form, stood in the doorway and he stepped in, his wings brushing the door frame.

"Here is why you should do it Alpha. Because if you don't I will remove your hand from her for you, one finger at a time, starting at your toes!" He said a deep snarl coming from him.

"Luce, calm!" Came Callens voice from behind him and the Sigma widened his eyes and stepped to one side, half bowed with his arm over his chest, my current room mate walking in the open door "Father, I have told you countless times to stay out of my room. Why am I not surprised to find the one time I hope you stay out more than any other, you don't." he was calm, almost alarmingly so.

"Forget that! Why is THIS in your room!?" he asked swinging me around to hold me before him like I was some dirty magazine he had found, causing me to swing in his grasp and give me a little motion sickness. Callen gently took me gently from his fathers hands and carried me over to the bed to lay me down on my stomach.

"Because I want her in here," he said simply and pet me on the head trying to calm me "You should be well aware by now father, only those I want in my room, get IN my room, with the exception of you who comes in regardless of that one rule."

"How dare you talk to me like that! I am your Father and Alpha of this pack! Watch your mouth or..."

"Or what?" Callen returned looking back up at him with rising anger and eyes narrowed "You will have me punished like you punished Neil? You may be Alpha father but even you are pushing it! The pack is already uneasy and punishing your own son over something as small as this... even the Council could not and would not turn a blind eye!" his father growled lowly in return but stayed silent knowing he was out of luck this time.

"Luce, please show my father the door... and father... don't come back in here." I could hear shuffling and then the door slammed, soon Luce was standing over me as well back to his human form.

"Callen go get some new bandages from your bathroom, I'll need to check her stitches, the yelp she gave when she was lifted up by your father worries me a little."

"Understood... why do I get a feeling that you know why he was in here?" Callen asked while Luce removed my bandages carefully, trying his best to be gentle even with the fresh scabs that had stuck to them were being torn open. They had an interesting relationship the two of them. Much like my own with Luce, Callen and Luce clearly saw each other as friends and had no problems ordering each other around or hurling insulting banter at one another on occasion.

Luce clearly saw Callen as his alpha, not Callen's father and Callen saw Luce as his informant when it came to the goings on around the pack house. Luce did seem to have his eyes and ears all over the house and while he seemed to move little during the day, he had an uncanny knowledge of almost everyone's dirty little secrets.

He did respect some boundaries however, any room that was 'private' such as bedrooms as well as the punishment room seemed to be blank areas to him as well as most of the bathrooms. However if it effected the pack house, community or the pack in any way and could be heard in the hallways, he was more than knowledgeable about it and would often inform Callen if it was serious enough. Or step in himself if the situation warranted immediate action, such as my past bathroom incident.

"It is possible he was looking for you," Luce responded "I came here in search of you, there is a council meeting, you and I will be expected in the council chambers."

"Who called it?" Callen asked applying more antiseptic cream to my back.

"Alpha Leo, Alpha Prime of the great cats." came the simple reply.

"We can't leave Neil here on her own, not now Dad knows she is in here." Callen said as they started to secure new bandages around my middle and over my back.

"She was summoned as well." Luce said and I looked up to see Callen's stunned face with mine mirroring his expression.

"Luce! You didn't!" He accused silently, his face a mix of shock and admiration.

"Bring Neil's suffering to the attention of another Alpha?" he retorted securing my new bandage a little too tightly making me give a yip in protest and he loosened it off with a sympathetic look "You and I both know, this has gone on long enough so I have decided to act in the only way I know how to without using violence." Callen sighed and nodded reaching down and picking me up once Luce was done.

"Ok Neil, we need to make this quick," he said holding me to face him, his face was serious but still maintained its warmth "We are going to see the high council and I'll bet top dollar you will be their main talking point. Be mindful, show respect, try not to bite and most of all, show as little fear as you can. Luce and I will be there to protect you but I highly doubt anyone will try anything against you, do you understand?" I nodded and gave his nose a light lick making him chuckle.

"Well if you don't beat all..." He said slowly chuckling "Still able to try and act cute even when in considerable pain, C'mon, lets get moving, Luce, lock the door I want nobody getting in understand?" Luce nodded and threw a couple of large logs onto the fire to get it going before he followed after us as we walked out the door, using a hint of magic to lock the door so only he or Callen could open it till the spell was changed later.

We walked to the large council room, it being one of the grandest rooms in the building, it was housed at the back on the ground floor. It usually off limits if the council was in session and I was only ever allowed in to help clean. A large chandelier hung from the centre of the room and there were a few paintings and various decorations around the room.

In the centre of the room was a large triangular table with three seats to a side; one for each Alpha. There was also an extra seat at the two points at the end of the table opposite from the door. The open space by the door was supposed to symbolise the direction to the future, which ironically, pointed out the door.

The three chairs opposite the door at the 'head' of the table were for the two Alpha Primes and the Community Alpha who sat in the middle. The current community leader was Alpha Skylar Andies Smith or Alpha Smith, Leader of all wolves in the community and Callens father. With the largest population in the community of any species, Alpha Smith had an army at his disposal if he so wished. His wolf Lycar, sat behind him against the wall looking as bored and detached from everything as he usually did nowadays.

On the Left was Alpha Mufasa Leo, Alpha to all of the great cats in the community, that being lions, tigers, panthers and so on. Alpha Leo was a fairly powerful man, he was was the leader of the strongest pride in the community and all decisions for some of the strongest members of the community went through him. He was highly respected, slow to anger, seemed to have a deep well of love for everyone and when mad could flatten a truck. As an Alpha Prime, he was responsible for all carnivores in the community outside of Council procedures except for wolves and he was usually called on in times of disputes between packs and prides or anything in between.

His lion, Sama, was either under the table or not present at the moment. The lion was laid back and lazy by nature but always maintained a regal air about himself. Slow to anger like his human half, his tan fur and brown mane was always impeccably clean and maintained. However it hid his true nature which was a wide mean streak if crossed and large amounts of power if he needed to use it.

On the right was Alpha Isto Spirit, Alpha, or Heard leader to all Equines and Cervine. He was a Tall man built like a body builder and was usually cool, calm and collected but radiated an aura of coldness. Under that however he was much like Alpha Leo, very friendly and easy to get along with but had no time for lies and excuses. He was also the Alpha Prime to all herbivores in the community but had an easier time with his job than Alpha Leo as they rarely fought over territory.

The tall stallion behind him was Tiso, his equine half. He was a stunning horse if I had to be honest and he had a calm but alert look to him. Black as the night with a white star patch on his forehead, his mane had white specks through it that looked like stars in the night.

The three carnivore Alphas were, in order from next to Alpha Leo:  
Alpha Tango Mclaughlan, An English fox much like myself, he was responsible for all canines except wolves. He was a typical fox, curious and adventurous by nature, he had a laid back personality and often didn't seem to care what was going on around him but was openly a very friendly person but had little time for details often saying 'Details, who needs em?'.

His fox, Nago, sat directly next to his chair and was watching us curiously. He was the same colour as Lien however he had black 'socks' on his feet and black around his nose, where Lien only had some black on her tail and ears. Playful and generally fun to be with, he was loved by his skulk and all those he was in charge over.

Next was Alpha Sampson Song, a grizzly and an intimidating man, he was responsible for all ursine and most other carnivores that the others didn't cover. He was usually too curious for his own good and tended to over eat and drink like most ursines did. The others saw him as slow and a bit thick but he was far from it having a big love for knowledge and ran the town library.

His ursine half, Ponsam, sat in one of the corners of the room. Large and scary looking by nature of being a bear, he was just like his human half most of the time. Laid back and friendly but also hid the same ferocity as Alpha Leo did. He was apparently addicted to meed and honey and a good gift for him, as prank or serious, was to give him a pot of honey.

Alpha Alexander Gold was the last carnivore Alpha. A black tom cat, he was responsible for all domestic felines who were the main cause for many border disputes in the community. He was arrogant, cocky and often openly exposed his distaste for the other Alphas in the room.

Derland laid over his humans lap, head perked up and watching everyone in the room. He was opposite his human in many ways. He liked people, loved attention, and disliked conflict of almost any kind. He was usually found curled up on his humans lap, shoulders, or over the back of his chair, smacking him in the face with his tail when he did something the tabby disagreed with.

On the right side, was the three Herbivore Alphas, in order from Alpha Isto they were:  
Alpha Raven Shatter, The only female on the council and a raven much to her name sake. she was responsible for all avians in the community whom acted very much like a messaging or surveillance network. Unlike the others, she despised her position on the council, having it forced upon her as a position that no one else wanted and shares much of that same view. She was extremely easy to get along with and had a love for everyone she met never wishing ill on anyone. She also was very well informed from the wide network of birds and bats that covered the community.

On her shoulder was Eva, the black raven keeping a close eye on the two feline predators in particular but twitched and shuffled her wings on occasion. While never meaning to, she often came across as cold and heartless but this was more her being low on patience than low on consideration for the feelings of others.

In the middle was Alpha Barry Ramside, A bull, he was built much like Alpha Song but with seemingly more... fat. Responsible for all bovines, flat footed, or animals that didn't fit in with the other two categories. He and Alpha Song were actually good friends and spent long hours at the local bar together. He had little attention span for much but had a deep love for children and ran the daycare and primary school. The Bovines mostly ran the farms creating a huge amount of food for the community which was also traded with other Were communities.

In the opposite corner of the room to Alpha Ponsam was Alpha Ramside's bull, Rarb. He was a typical looking long horn bull and despite his imposing size was trying to appear small by laying down. Generally thought to be hot blooded, he shared the same personality as his human, loving and outgoing. He had a deep passion for gardens and flowers, although if that was for culinary reasons or horticultural was any ones guess.

Lastly was Alpha Rene Valentine, A Rat, he was small and fidgety, he was in charge of all rodents. He was an interesting person, very flighty and jumpy, he rarely gave trust to others and to get it was a long and difficult task. He attempted to make everyone happy without sacrificing much of his own, this usually resulted in brandishing him as a coward but he didn't seem to care. The rodents ran most of the town utilities from the water plants, to electricity, to garbage collection and they diligently recycled and composted anything that could be, reducing the towns waste.

Ranne sat on his humans shoulders and looked to be asleep. However the subtle nose movements and ear twitches showed he was just not bothering to watch anyone. He was a typical rat in most ways although he was lactose intolerant and despised cheese. He was a hands on rodent, usually assisting the others of his mischief by running through trash piles to help sort it.

The other two seats were taken by Luce on the left and another Sigma that sadly, I didn't know the name of. Luce was effectively the referee of the meetings, his job was to make sure the proceedings didn't degrade into violence and petty squabbling. Here Luce didn't just enforce the rules, he was the rules and while he seemed lax, he stuck to them with an iron fist. He also acted as the voice for all of the Sigma's in the community, a role given to him willingly by the others of his rank in the community. Luce was in a terrifying position as the voice of the Sigmas, Sigmas are the most powerful members of the community and could make or break a conflict if they were ever taken to the front lines.

Culem, Luce's Snow-leopard, was nowhere to be seen as always. The feline was rarely seen outside their room but still somehow fulfilled his job as a messenger when needed. It was rumoured that the feline walked in the wall cavities of the house and thus could get around undisturbed among a pack of wolves.

The Sigma opposite him was the minutes keeper, recording everything that happened for future reference if needed. The reason a Sigma filled this position was because any other Were could be tempted to doctor them in their Alphas favour and Sigmas were universally neutral. Her animal half was apparently a lion and I couldn't help but be curious if it was Alpha Leo's sigma.

"That THING is not permitted within this chamber!" Alpha Smith instantly spoke up noticing me in Callen's arms as the doors closed and locked behind Callen and Luce as we stepped into the room "Remove it at once!"

"Actually, that 'thing' as you refer to her," Alpha Leo started "Is the reason this emergency meeting of the Council was called so Neil is to remain here."

"Murderers have no place within this chamber! Get it out at once!" he protested again more firmly banging his fist on the table.

"SILENCE SMITH!" Alpha Leo roared loudly, he growled deeply waiting a few moments for Alpha Smith and Luce to sit down "Callen, You may begin when ready."

"Thank you Alpha Leo," he said and pet me gently on the head to steady my nerves when he noticed I was shivering slightly "This morning, young Neil here left school early without permission. After that he headed directly into the forest and shifted into his full form. Of course he was spotted by some other youths from the school who informed Neil's alpha as soon as they could, doing the correct thing."

"Get to your point." Alpha smith spoke up getting a growl from the feline to his left.

"I was getting there," Callen said sharply making his father fall silent "Of course, Neil's Alpha, Alpha Smith here, decided to punish him, as is his right for the infraction of leaving school. He also decided to punish him for shifting to full form in the forest for some reason, even though that is not forbidden so long as he is out of view of the roads. However, his method was... unusual for such a small misdemeanour as skipping a day of school and especially for a minor."

"In what way?" Alpha Raven spoke up and Callen stepped forward to place me standing on the table, then removed my bandages gently.

"Alphas, please inspect her wounds. She currently cannot shift while she heals and may be a little slow to move due to pain, so please be gentle with her." Callen said, his eyes locked on my father and I was almost instantly dragged over to Alpha Tango who, after he saw my wince of discomfort, tried to be more gentle.

"Oh my Word! Why has she not healed already?!" He asked inspecting the deep wounds and I was then shown to Alpha Leo. All of them looked at me with curiosity and a hint of shock.

"Father? Wish to answer that?" Callen spoke up, his father taking a swipe at me with his fist as I was passed in front of him to Alpha Raven from Alpha Leo and she started petting me softly on the head causing me to relax while she and Alpha Isto inspected me. It came as no surprise to me when he didn't speak up or the fact that he showed no remorse and shame for his actions.

Alpha Ramside didn't want to see my injuries but instead looked into my eyes which was disconcerting. His years of experience allowed him to see the pain and mild fear I was trying to hide as I looked around his face nervously trying not to make eye contact. He gave me a soft kiss to the top of my head then ushered me to Alpha Rene who sniffed me over and looked at my back with great scrutiny Alpha Raven motioned for me to return wanting to give me another look over.

"Very well, I will answer that for you," Callen said calmly "Neil here was punished with five lashes... with a Dragons Tails." Most of the Alphas in the room gasped and I gave a yelp as Alpha Raven accidentally clenched her fingers over my back. She passed me back to Callen quickly to re-bandage me while the council turned their attention to Alpha Smith.

"SKYLAR!" Alpha Song suddenly boomed out "HOW DARE YOU!"

"How dare I what?" he retorted, still maintaining his smug composure "I Punished it for potentially exposing us to any humans that may be lurking through town."

"You know Damn well that the Dragons Tongue, Breath and Tails are only EVER used on the worst criminals!" Alpha Leo growled angrily "And its use is only after the council has ordered it! How DARE you usurp this council for your own selfish vendetta!"

"That THING killed my mate! It doesn't deserve compassion!" the response came back and Leo was already up, holding Alpha Smith by the throat with a deep growl.

"It was an accident, are you going to hold it against them forever!?" He asked "You're pathetic! You don't deserve your standing as an Alpha!"

"ENOUGH! Leo release him!" Luce finally said standing up "As Members of the Council you are all aware there is to be no violence in this chamber! Alpha Smith, as punishment for breaching multiple codes, including over punishment of a minor, threatening the life of a minor, using a forbidden punishment technique on a minor and usurping Council authority, we hereby strip you of your position on this council as stipulated by Council rule P-37! Effective immediately! Callen shall take your place as a council Alpha and community head. Secondly, you are hereby banned from the punishment rooms of this community until the council deems otherwise. Now the council will decide your punishment for the mistreatment of the Omega known as Neil and his fox, Lien."

"What are you blathering about?" Alpha Smith asked turning to look at the Sigma then back to me, the look on his face making me back up on the table into Callen's arms again my tail between my legs.

"You know perfectly well," Luce said reaching down next to his chair and lifted a folder and dropped it onto the desk. It was thick and seemed quite heavily loaded down with a large amount of paperwork, landing on the table with a thud.

"Luce? Please explain" Alpha Leo said looking at the thick folder with interest.

"This..." he said opening it and slid several stapled stacks of the paperwork around the table "Is a copy of the original list I started oh so many years ago. It lists every single act done against Neil since the death of the late Luna, Lady Smith by Alpha Smith and this pack. Each one is listed Chronologically and if you look, they get more and more severe as time goes on, the pages are double sided."

"Is this true?" Alpha Leo asked looking up at me and pointing to the page his face a little pale "Please, come here." I looked up at Callen, my current guardian who simply nodded and gave me a light push in the direction of the large male. I walked carefully and unsteadily across the table, looking up occasionally at the large males to my left who watched me passing with mild amusement at my timidness till I came to be standing before Alpha Leo.

"Here, sit here..." he said motioning to the clear spot of table to his left side away from Alpha Smith "Now have a quick look, if I, or any of the others ask, just nod or shake your head ok?" I nodded feeling all eyes on me still as I sat next to the Alpha, feeling strangely comforted by his dominating presence and started going over the list.

"Is this true? Top of the list, marked as ongoing," came a question from Alpha Tango asked pointing at his list "You live in the Attic? Sleep on an old mattress and only have torn sheets for warmth?" I flinched a little and nodded slowly.

"How do you stay warm in winter?" Alpha Isto asked, his voice deep and reverberating "You may speak if you can."

"I...I shift the mattress that I sleep on closer to the bricks of the main chimney stack... o...or sleep in fox form." I said feeling myself droop slightly.

"Please tell me this one is fake!" Alpha Sampson said pointing at the list "The shower incident!"

"I'm sorry to say sir that it is," Luce said "And that I needed to step in to stop the torture." I drooped more at the painful memory.

"And the forced cold showers?" Alpha Raven asked and I nodded again.

"The broken arm for... waking Alpha smith at... eleven o'clock one morning while moving boxes around in your attic room?" Alpha Tango asked, I whimpered softly and nodded again "At Eleven!? Honestly!?" he looked at Alpha Smith who's face didn't change from his look of smug superiority. I remembered the incident well. It had been when I was shifting the room around during one winter so I was sleeping closer to the chimney stack.

"And this one? On Callen's birthday?" Alpha Leo asked pointing to the list. It listed a third degree burn I had received for burning the roast one night a few years ago. It had been for Callen's Birthday and and Alpha had seen fit to punish me with one of the branding irons in the punishment room. Holding the red hot implement to my skin several times till the area had gone black and needed a month to heal properly, even with the advanced healing powers that came with being a Were. I whimpered more and slowly sank down feeling Alpha Smiths eyes on me, burning a hole into my very soul through the side of my head and I tried to make myself as small as possible. I nodded again unable to stop the fear filled whimper from escaping me and my eyes sting with their attempts to tear up.

"Is that why you didn't come to dinner that night?" Callen asked a little shocked "They told me you were too tired from working all day on the party to try to impress me! I had wanted you there so badly to thank you." As soon as the next whimper was out of me I was scooped up by Alpha Tango who rested me on his lap, he stroked me softly trying to settle my fears.

"I...I...I'm S...So...Sorry Callen," I whimpered out, now ashamed because the truth was out and that I was slowly breaking my promise of remaining strong for the meeting.

"Shh, shh, calm down," Alpha Tango said as he held me "You are surrounded by Alphas, no harm will come to you here." I whimpered again and coughed slightly wanting to speak.

"It...It's what will happen to me after I...I leave that I fear more..." I whined out loudly and my chin came to rest on the table, whimpering loudly as my fur was matted down by the tears that started to run freely from my eyes.

"Ugh, as usual seeking Sympathy, Pathetic excuse for a Were!" Alpha Smith sneered and I pressed deeper into Alpha Tango until Callen gently took me from him, his presence more comforting as my chosen Alpha. If I had been paying attention to anything but the ache from my heart and back, I would have noticed all the animal forms of the Alpha's making noised of anger and irritation towards Alpha Smith.

"ENOUGH FROM YOU SMITH!" Alpha Barry said slamming down his wad of papers, the noise getting everyone's attention and managing to snap me from the small panic attack I was starting to have "I move to vote, Omega Neil is to immediately be placed under the protection of future Alpha, Callen Smith and Alpha Skylar Smith is to no longer have any interaction with the Omega. I also add the conditions, that if a more suitable room is not available for said Omega to move into, then his current room is made more inhabitable. Also he is to be given a more suitable showering condition, better meals and his tasks are lessoned. It is unacceptable that he is expected to prepare, cook and clean for the entire pack house every day and still go to school!"

"All in favour say Aye." Luce said and there was a chorus of 'Aye' from all of the Alphas except Alpha Smith.

"Nay," he said with a growl Eyeing me in Callens arms "I refuse to be told how to handle a member of my own pack!"

"And why is that?" Alpha Leo said turning to regard him "You seem happy to impose your power in the council upon other packs, this is no different."

"You have broken the laws as a pack Alpha," Alpha Isto spoke with a hidden warning "You are lucky we showing restraint and are not stripping you of your position. Your son would take over for you earlier than was intended, I am sure he would be a far superior alpha to you. Especially with this list as proof of your obvious shortfalls. An Alpha is expected to protect and nurture their pack, not... not This! How you managed to keep this all secret from us for so long is another sign that you have been abusing your position and power!"

"Watch your words stallion or they will need to find a replacement for you!" Alpha Smith growled in his direction and was quickly grabbed by the collar of his shirt by Alpha Leo.

"You have just threatened the life of a member of the Council Alpha Smith! Do you remember what the Punishment is for that!?" He growled angrily "Ten lashes with a Kitsune and seeing as you are no longer a member of the council, it would be done PUBLICLY!" he threw him back into his chair making it rock a little.

"Regardless, Alpha Smith's vote is invalid as he isn't a council member any more so the motion is carried," Luce said standing "Alpha Smith, you are hereby barred from any access to Omega Neil and his shift Lien without Community Alpha Callen present. Their room is to be upgraded immediately, his shower restored to provide hot water if you insist that he cannot shower in the main shower room, a duty roster like in any pack household is to be started with his name on the list as well as other members of the pack house, he is to be given proper meals and he is hereby placed under your son, Callen's care."

"Y...You can't..." he started and was promptly stopped by Luce raising his hand.

"We can and we have," he said simply "Also, as Callen is taking your place on the council, he will be responsible for checking that you have complied with these conditions. Failure to comply will result in punishment via a public lashings of the Councils choosing, understood?"

"B...but I'm..." he again tried to start up again trying to restore his ego.

"Excellent! You may leave now, you are not needed within these chambers as you are no longer a Council member, please see yourself out." Luce said pointing to the doors which opened on their own, most likely due to the Sigma's magic. Alpha Smith growled deeply and angrily stepping from his chair and started towards the door, his eyes never left me as he stalked towards myself and Callen, his advance slowing as he got closer.

"Do not even think about it Father," Callen growled and tightened his arms around me "You may be strong but even you would not be able to stand up to eight very angry Alphas, Two Sigma's, one being the most powerful Sigma known and myself." I pressed myself deeper into Callen's arms and Alpha Smith growled deeply once more before passing and walking out the doors.

The doors were shut behind him as he left with a soft click and Callen and I gave a slow gentle sigh. I could feel the tension in the room now dissipating and I started feeling tired once more, not having realised I had been using so much emotional energy till then, starting to go a little limp in Callen's arms.

"Well, that went as well as could be expected I guess." Callen suddenly said getting a chuckle from around the room.

"Could have gone better yes but it needed to be done," Alpha Leo said with a sigh "It also could have gone much worse, anyway, please take your seat, Community Alpha Callen." He smiled and motioned to the seat next to him.

"What about Neil?" he asked giving me a slight squeeze making me squeak, that resulting in a chuckle from a couple of the Alphas.

"She may remain, with your father in such a foul mood we cannot, in good concious, send her to her room at this time and not expect him to take his anger out on her, despite our orders." Alpha Valentine said remaining calm.

"He would likely get other males to do it for him." I muttered softly and Callen pet me gently.

"True," Callen said "It's a good thing that you are staying in my room for a few days while you heal." he walked over to where he would be sitting and examined the chair that his father had sat upon. It was much larger than any other chair in the room, looking almost throne like with its decoration and style.

"Why did he have a more... elaborate chair when everybody else is in identical chairs?" Callen asked simply getting a Shrug from Alpha Isto.

"We asked him that when he first brought it in." the stallion said with an eye roll. Callen sat me on the table, surprising most of them and he lifted the chair.

"Well I'm not going to sit on it," he said heaving it to the empty corner of the room. He grabbed the chair he used to sit on that was identical to all the rest, putting it in the now empty space "There! That's better! I refuse to pretend I am better than any of you, if anything your better than I am, Now as for you..." he picked me up and sat me down on the chair in the corner making me whimper a little about sitting on that chair.

"You lay down and rest and think of this, my father would be furious that you are in 'his' chair." he said with a smile and gently pet me on the head, scratching at my ears before he returned to the table "Ok gentlemen and gentlelady, we might as well do the usual stuff, what were we going to discus next meeting?"

"We have received word from the Vampire clan to the south" Alpha Raven said "They said they wish to cross our territory to set up a new home to the north"

"No... that won't do... The north is all forest until the border... and past that is another Were community," Callen said "To the east is an angel base and the west is a demon base... Why do I get a feeling that they are looking to start another conflict?"

I yawned and curled up on the chair, laying my tail over my nose. You might expect it to tickle my nose but I found it comforting. I slowly closed my eyes and started to doze off with the sound of their talking and bickering.

My dreams were peaceful and for once I didn't have any nightmares of the day Lady Lunar was killed or any of the torments Alpha Smith enacted upon me. I was woken up the the feeling of Callen's hands lifting me and huge increase of pain in my back making me hiss as I came too.

"Sorry," he said apologetically "The meeting is over, Time to head back to the room, we can get you some painkillers back in the room." he smiled and lifted me slowly and carefully into his arms.

"I hope I didn't disturb anyone." I said laying my ears back in embarrassment and he chuckled.

"The only way you disturbed us was your occasional whimper and Alpha Raven and Alpha Leo wanting to get up and cave into their caring instincts and coddle you." I squeaked and squirmed a bit.

"R...Really?" I asked and he nodded.

"Surprised they didn't wake you when they pet you whenever they got up for a pee break," he chuckled "They all seemed to need to take the long way round." I gave a soft whimper unable to show off my embarrassment any more than I was. We remained silent till we got to Callen's bedroom, the fire had picked up and Luce had already dropped off a tray with two pizza boxes, a jug of iced water with two glassed and a garlic bread on it.

"Pizza?" I asked looking at Callen as he sat me down on the bed and made his way to the boxes.

"Yeah, apparently the others in this pack can not cook to save their miserable hides," he said picking up the boxes with a chuckle "They somehow managed to burn a stew in the slow-cooker, so Luce ordered out. Thankfully near by is the pizzeria run by a border collie family and they were very understanding."

"Understanding that the only person in the pack who can cook is the Omega and he is currently in no medical state to cook?" I asked then blinked realising what I had said "I...I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." he put his hand up and sat next to me on the bed.

"Now now, if I recall I said you can speak freely in here, if not then I have now," he smiled opening the boxes and placed one in front of me then split up the garlic bread and gave me half "I am ashamed personally that it has gotten this bad, that the pack cannot feed itself without you, that you were punished so badly for something so small and that it is taking the Council to put an end to it." I nodded and started eating, both of us eating in silence for a few minutes.

"I...I found him," I finally spoke up breaking the silence.

"Found who?" Callen asked looking down to me.

"You know... HIM!" I punctuated and looked up at him "My mate." He looked curious for a moment before his face lit up with a broad smile.

"That's Fantastic!" he said with a smile and I gave a soft whimper looking down to the pizza in front of me "What's wrong?"

"H...he... I..."

"Oh Neil, he didn't reject you did he?" he asked and I shook my head sadly.

"N..No... he...he's..."

"Human." Lacen said from the basket in the corner and I gave a loud whimper and nodded.

"Oh Neil... Where is he?" Callen asked looking to me and I shrugged.

"I don't know... He could be anywhere, I sent him away from the pack lands towards the northern packs," I said whimpering more starting to cry now fully disinterested with my dinner "Hopefully he did as I told him but... even if he didn't go... I have no hope of ever being with my mate, Alpha Smith would kill me and him. While I would be fine with the first, I could never forgive myself if he did the second."

"But without him you'll..." he started and I nodded slowly.

"It's better that I sacrifice myself so he might live... better that than someone innocent gets killed." I said and started batting lightly at the pizza box.

"Oh Neil..." Callen said sadly and gently started petting me again.

"I...I'm such a coward," I whimpered loudly "I cant even keep my own mate! What is the point in me continuing on living? When my 'happily ever after' is taken from me before I can even have it!? All because Alpha Smith hates humans!" I covered my face with my paws now feeling exceptionally miserable.

"Neil..." Callen started.

"Just throw me on the fire Callen... I have no more reason to go on." I felt Lien get angry inside me but I kept her subdued. It wasn't until I looked up I realised I was now sitting next to a very angry white wolf who was snarling loudly at me teeth inches from my face. Instincts kicked in and I was off the bed and under it in seconds, whimpering loudly and shivering in fear.

I had never once seen Callen angry, he was always so level headed, so calm towards me at any rate. This Callen scared me and terrified me, it was like he was a completely different person now. His face, lips pulled back in a snarl and eyes locking onto me, appeared at the edge of the bed. Thankfully he was too big to get under the bed but I pressed deeper under the bed anyway. I only stopped my retreat finally when I felt the bandages catch on the rungs and my butt bump against the wall. My back was once more in a large amount of pain from my sudden hurried movements.

"DON'T LET ME HEAR YOU SAY THAT AGAIN!" he barked out loudly and angrily "Goddess Neil! It's NOT OVER! You're giving up hope before even Trying! I did not go through all the effort to keep you alive just for you to give up!" I nodded slowly and he gave an irritated huff before his face returned to its usual calm.

"Now come out of there, I'm sorry I scared you," I hesitated, watching him carefully. His eyes softened and he laid down giving an almost puppyish huff and wagged his tail "Please?" I slowly started worming my way towards him, my eyes not leaving his as I got closer and closer.

He stood up as I got my nose out from under the bed, and he gently picked me up by my scruff with his teeth and helped me out from under the bed. He jumped up onto the bed and laid me down in the centre, before changing back to human form and got dressed quickly.

"I'm sorry I frightened you Neil," he said and straightened my bandages the best he could "When you said that... we snapped." Lacen nodded in agreement and curled up next to me and motioned towards my abandoned food.

"Please... Eat," the wolf said "You need all the energy you can get to heal."

"He's right Neil, you need to eat," the human said and gave a smile "You wouldn't want to make me have Luce get baby formula to force feed you." My eyes went wide and I eyed him from the corner of my eyes.

"You wouldn't be that cruel!" I said giving my tail a playful wag hoping he was toying with me.

"I'd make sure it was a Vegetable one, and use a kiddy's spoon" he retorted with an evil grin and I gave a small whimper.

"You would..." I finally conceded and started making my way back to it. I ate a piece of garlic bread, chewing it slowly admittedly but I was eating it at least and it seemed to make him happy. He started eating a few seconds later and Lacen made his way to my basket by the fire, laying down and over filling it comically before realising it was the wrong one.

We ate in silence aside from the occasional shift on the bed and the crackle of the fire. The fire giving a hiss when Callen threw a piece of unwanted pizza crust into it. Once we were both done eating he took the empty cardboard boxes and placed them on the fire, adding a handful of something in a small pot next to it after the flames died down a little. I was admittedly curious, and watched as the fire changed to a violet colouration for a few seconds.

"Its a special blend I made up," he said with a smile seeing my curiosity "Took a few years to perfect, its a combination of citrus rinds, flowers and a few herbs. Its designed to smoulder, and gives off a scent that helps with sleep and gives a pleasant scent to the room for a few hours." he smiled pulling out the fire tongs and adjusted a few things in the fire, pulling something to the front before placing a few new thick logs on the fire to make it flair up to life once more.

"Now, I won't be mad if you decide to sleep on the bed, or in your basket," he said as he headed to the bathroom "But you are welcome to sleep on my bed if you want, I don't mind the company. I'm going to have a quick shower before bed, be back in a few minutes ok?" I nodded and wagged my tail watching him close the door behind him and the shower started a second or two later. I dropped my head to the sheets and closed my eyes giving a soft huff and groan of comfort.

"Oh hello Culem," Came Callen's voice jolting me from the light sleep I had fallen into "Wasn't expecting you, making yourself comfortable I see... everything ok?" I looked up without moving seeing the snow-leopard sitting in my basket, his long thick tail covering it almost fully from view.

"I Have some news for you about your father," he said his attention on me for a second with what looked like sorrow before returning to look at Callen his face falling serious "Your father is tearing the attic limb from limb." My tail instantly stopped its small wag and frizzed and I quickly jumped down from the bed and ran to the door, forgetting it was closed and crashed into it before I could be stopped.

"Niel!" Callen called and ran over to me picking me up, Lacen chuckling a little "Stay calm, we will deal with this... Is Luce there already?" he turned to look at the leopard while gently petting over the growing bump on my head.

"Yes, we were alerted to it by the noise, we didn't want to act without you present." Came the curt response.

"Good, summon some of the war wolves, I think Alpha Leo is still in the building isn't he?" Callen Placed me on the bed and quickly started getting dressed.

"Yes sir, he is currently in the kitchen having a cup of tea and slice of cake with vet Shelly and her mate, future Beta Anders."

"Good, get all three of them," he said pulling on a shirt and then collected me from the bed "C'mon Lacen I'll probably need you." He walked out of his room and carried me to the entrance to the attic, loud banging and crashing coming from within. Luce stood at the door, next to him was Alpha Smiths Wolf, Lykar, sitting next to the door with a look of detachment from everything that almost came off as utter boredom. Over the years, Lykar had become less and less bothered by anything and often ignored his human half. He had become what Alpha Smith seemed to try to make me, broken and dead inside, nothing more than a drone. They hadn't shifted in years, with Lykar stating the reason being that he 'didn't want to be part of him any more'.

"Didn't expect you here Lykar." Callen said as he approached and the wolf briefly looked up at him.

"He tried to force a shift," he responded dryly with a shrug of his canine shoulders "I think it just made him angrier when I rejected the attempt. Hello Omega, I regret this afternoons punishment he inflicted, is my son treating you well?" I nodded slowly and I could have sworn I saw a slight smile as his tail made a lazy flick but I could have just imagined it.

"Callen!" We heard from behind us and he turned to see Vet Shelly, next Beta in line Anders, Alpha Leo, and a small collection of war wolves approaching.

"What is going on?" Anders asked and was cut off from his answer when Shelly Stepped forward to take me from Callen's arms.

"Oh Dear GODDESS! What happened to you!?" she asked me looking me over.

"Good thing you are here Shelly, I'd like you to have a look over Neil's injuries a little later," Callen said then there was a loud crash from above us "But first, Shelly, please protect Neil, don't let her go for love nor money. Luce be ready to shift if needed, Alpha Leo we will need you to assist us." Alpha Leo nodded and Luce opened the door and there was a crash as he did. A lone Christmas bauble fell down the stairs and rolled out onto the carpet.

"Well we were going to decorate soon" Luce said trying to make light of it "I was even going to send Anders to select a few trees soon for around the pack house" Leo and Callen gave him a look of 'that's not a tasteful joke' while the others, even I chuckled softly.

Callen walked up the stairs followed by Anders, Alpha Leo, Luce, Shelly with myself and the war wolves behind us. When we got up there I was reduced to a whimpering ball of fur in Shelly's arms. The boxes were destroyed, their contents scattered from one end of the attic space to the other with a box shaped hole in the window. Around the room was the remains of my bedding, with the metal inner-spring frame even torn apart. All of my clothes were in tatters, the chest of drawers used to store them currently in the alpha's hands. That however didn't last long as he took one look at the group of us, saw me, and hurled it at us.

Shelly reflexly curled around me turning her back to the object and there was a loud crash followed by some splinters of wood flying past her shoulders. When we turned back, one of the war wolves and Anders had stepped into its path blocking it, the furniture having exploded against their backs.

"ALPHA SMITH! STAND DOWN NOW!" Alpha Leo boomed out and he only got a deep growl and snarl in return.

"Father, This will get you nowhere." Callen said and got the same response of a deep snarling growl. He didn't take his eyes off of me, deep hatred burning deep in them. I squirmed trying to get away, figuring I could protect Shelly by being far away from her. He lunged at us but mid lunge he fell flat to the floor, Luce stepping forward having shifted to mid form.

"Now now Alpha, you know that won't get you anywhere," He said almost musically with a smirk "You would need to get past Alpha Leo, your own son, several war wolves, Shelly, her mate Anders and myself before you got to Neil."

"War wolves!" Alpha Leo said turning to look at them "Take and secure him in the holding cells untill he calms down. I will take temporary command of the pack and pack house until he has gotten a hold himself." The males nodded rushing forward and walked off with him struggling and swearing at me the whole time.

"Are you ok?" Anders asked checking over Shelly and she nodded as he fussed.

"So... this is you room little Omega." Alpha Leo said stepping forward to look around.

"What's Left of it Alpha..." I said softly and Shelly put me down letting me wander around. I walked over to the window and sat slowly, I looked out into the yard where a box had exploded on the front lawn bellow. Nothing had survived his wrath, I now had no clothes, no bed, no personal effects and even my school equipment was destroyed. It was cold as usual, our breaths misting as we breathed.

"You ok?" Callen asked and I didn't even look up as someone approached.

"I don't know any more," I muttered softly "This was all I had in this world... and now it's all gone... it wasn't much and it wasn't perfect... but it was mine." I looked up and gave what remained of my makeshift curtains a tug with my teeth making them fall to the floor around me.

"We will fix it, better than new." Callen said as I was lifted by strong arms. I looked to see it was Alpha Leo who had lifted me and was oddly comforted once more by the Alpha as he carried me back to the others.

"I assume you had plans already in motion for his room?" He asked Callen handing me over, Callen simply smiled in response to the question "Good, accelerate them, you have no budget limitations, use whoever you want. Luce, you are on guard duty over Alpha Smith till Neil is able to defend himself. He is not to come anywhere near them, understand?"

"Consider it done Alpha." Luce answered giving a soft bow and walked out of the room heading towards the cells if I was guessing.

"Shelly, can you come with me?" Callen asked her gently.

"Sure, why?" she responded, walking with us down the stairs to the hallway and back towards his room.

"I mentioned before I want you to give Neil a proper look over," He answered "Luce and I did the best we could but neither of us have the medical expertise that you do."

"Damn straight I'm the bomb!" she said with a cheeky smirk "You know I'm going to ask what happened and for his...her sake, you need to answer them."

"That's fine, in here though," he said opening the door to his room and walked in "On the floor ok? I'll get a towel and the medical kit that was left by Luce"

"On the bed would be better, the kit will also be useful." she said smiling and he nodded sitting me on the bed.

"Stay." he said with a smirk and started rummaging in his closet getting a towel out and laid it out on the bed. I shifted over and laid down on it automatically as he came back a second later with the kit.

"Such a willing patient!" Shelly said with a squeal of joy "Normally I need to have people scruffed so they don't move."

"Sadly us manhandling her possibly has made her more compliant." Callen said as he placed the kit on the bed next to me. She opened it and put on gloves before she started undoing the bandages.

"Well the bandages don't look too good, they aren't on properly and are all bunched up." She said as she removed them from me.

"Yeah sorry about that, I scared her and she squeezed under the bed." Callen said to defend himself.

"Oh well that's perfectly alright then!" she said sarcastically with an eye roll. She finally got the bandages off exposing my back and I gave a slight hiss of discomfort of them peeling a few scabs off just as they did the last time.

"Ouch sorry honey," She said trying to be sympathetic "Ok lets see, Stitches are a bit loose but should be ok. What happened for her to need it?"

"Dad decided to flog her... and use a Dragons Tails to do it."

"You use the wash?" she asked without hesitation and Callen nodded.

"Washed her myself," he said and she gave him that same cheeky smile that seemed to hint at 'you lucky dog' sitting on her tongue "Even managed to get four chunks of silver from her wounds, we even used the correct procedure for post flogging medication and with the wash."

"Anything else happen?" she asked

"yeah we had to give her the shot as well, she started throwing up."

"No surprise there I guess, in the morning give her a soak in the bath, warm water and use the Anti-bane jell again" she said poking at a few spots making flinch a little each time "Some painkillers too as movements will be difficult with the cuts so deep. She wont like this but get some Betadine and apply it to the area before you bandage it after the bath, sadly that will stain her fur brown till she can change again. If it gets infected let me know immediately, with such deep wounds it's a high possibility that she could get an infection and that would turn nasty fast. Sadly wolves-bane creates a barrier that prevents a Weres normal healing processes, so her body wont be able to fight off an infection normally." Callen nodded and she pet me gently between my ears.

"Light bandages for the night, come to me to get the stitches pulled in two days, don't do it yourself," she added now applying a new bandage to my back "Bandage it like this see? Keep her warm and the area clean and dry and she should be ok in a few days."

"Sounds good, Thanks for the help Shelly, I'll have Luce get the Betadine and jell now for the morning." Callen said with a smile and looked to Lacen who I heard trotting out of the room.

"I'm just shocked that he used such a treatment on someone of such a young age, she is going to have these scars for life," Shelly said with a sigh "I expect to see you two in my clinic in a few days to have the stitches pulled, bring tall dark and handsome with you."

"Y...you mean Lurch?" I asked shuddering a little. Anders, also known as 'Lurch' due to resembling the butler from the Adams Family TV show was an imposing and scary person. Built like a brick wall, he often impersonated the character in a way that was almost believable. He was, in fact, quite intelligent, having passed all of his schooling and university with the highest marks and even set many of the communities athletics records.

"Yep that's him," Shelly said with a chuckle as she walked towards the door "He's a puppy, he just Looks imposing. If you two decide to go out tomorrow drop by the clinic and I'll do some blood tests to check if there is any wolves-bane in his system and get you some better painkillers. Anyway, good night you two, sleep well." she waved as she walked out the door and Callen gave a sigh.

"Well, we best get some sleep, I expect you to stick by me for the next few days. We will have pain killers for you in the morning, that should help you get around a bit during the day," he said and smiled "Don't be scared to ask for more when the pain starts to come back ok?" I nodded and he pet me on the head, collecting the towel from under me and he placed me into my basket by the fire, tossing in one more handful of his mixture before climbing into bed himself.

"Good night Neil." he called and my tail wagged a little.

"Good night Callen." I responded, adding 'Alpha' silently in my mind before his name. I laid my tail over my nose again and watched the flickering dancing flames till my eye lids drooped and closed, sending me into the nocturnal haven where Alpha Smith hopefully wouldn't tread tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke the next day and instantly panicked. I had to cook breakfast for the pack house! I had to clean all of the dishes! I had to Shower for school! As I shifted to get up I winced and yelped loudly, pain shooting from my back. Groaning softly I opened an eye slowly and looked around unsure where I was for a minute.

"Ah your awake," I heard and looked up to see Lacen standing by the bathroom door "Stay still, he is just getting the jell for you, Luce brought the shower version by accident." I gave a whimper and nodded slowly even though the movement pulled on my back, the previous days events returning to me as the skin pulled taught on my back with my nodding.

"Hurts." I simply grumbled sounding meek even though it was not my intention and Lacen nodded walking over sitting next to me.

"We guessed as much, he is bringing painkillers for you also." I nodded slowly and laid still, even wagging my tail was uncomfortable and I gave the occasional whimper when a shot of pain went through me.

"You know you talk in your sleep?" Lacen said after a few minutes of silence "Am I correct in assuming you did not have pleasurable dreams?" I sighed and nodded again.

"My nap when I was first brought In here was so good and in the Council room too," I said "No memories of that day... or the punishments by Alpha Smith... but last night they all came back again."

"That's not all though is it?" The white canine asked "You kept mentioning Simba Leo and his sisters, Care to explain?" I looked at him and shook my head.

"I...I Can't." I said with a slight sigh and tried to avert my eyes from him, focusing on the fireplace instead.

"Can't? Or won't?" he asked almost cryptically "They are two different things little Omega of ours, which one is it?"

"Both," I whimpered softly "I... I'm sorry Alpha Lacen... but as much as I respect you... I fear him." Lacen went to say something in response as the door opened.

"That's Fine but understand something Neil," Callen said as he walked in "Once we find out what is going on, we will do everything we can for you and don't expect me to hold back." I nodded ignoting the pain in my back as I did while he approached me slowly getting something out of his pocket. I watched him nerviously as I usually did with everyone while he simply held out a small brightly coloured cube in his hand for me.

"Here, take this, its painkillers designed for Weres, I'm sure your familiar with them," he smiled and waited for me to take it like a puppy taking a treat "I'll go get the bath filling with warm water for you, sadly we don't have anything more than this." I took the cube timidly, chewing a little then swallowed as was custom with them, earning a pet to the head before he walked off.

"Just wait here with me," Lacen said with a tail wag "It will take a few minutes for that to kick in." I sighed and laid my chin back down listening to the tub fill.

"I hate to break this to you," I called out to Callen "I don't think I'll be able to wait... I need the...ladies room." both Callen and Lacen started laughing loudly as Callen came out to get me and I growled softly at their laughing.

"Sorry, sorry, we just didn't expect you to say it that way." Callen defended himself as he lifted me with care.

"Remind me to gnaw on your ankles next chance I get." I said mid wince as he carried me to the bathroom and sat me on the toilet then turned away to tend to the still filling bath leaving me with some privacy to do my business.

"As long as its my ankles and not something else," He called back to me and turned off the tap as I finished up, pressing the conveniently placed leaver next to the bowl to flush "Ok, I'm guessing the painkiller still hasn't kicked in but we can't delay much sadly, I have some things to do around the town and I'm not going to let you sit in my room all day and brood." Lifting me gently he carried me over to the tub and started lowering me in.

"Bite on my arm if the pain gets too bad ok? I'll heal fast enough from it." he shifted his grip on me so his arm was within biting range for me. The water was pleasantly warm as it lapped up around me and I didnt panic despite the fact it was heated. However as soon as it made contact with my injured back I bit down on his arm, silencing a wail and wild thrashing that were trying to force itself out of me. Callen gave a cry of pained alarm but didn't drop me, giving a slight wince of discomfort as he continued with the slow lowering until I was standing on the bottom of the tub.

I didn't let go till a minute later when I realised I was tasting blood in my maw. Opening my eyes I gave a slight whimper and slowly pulled away from his arm, licking it a little and looking up at him to see if he was angry.

"Calm yourself," Callen said offering a warm smile and showed his arm. It was covered in his blood but the bite holes were rapidly closing, attesting the strength of a Weres normal healing abilities, something that I hadn't had in a while. My malnourishment meant I took slightly longer to heal from even a normal scratch "See? No harm done." I gave a slight whimper and nodded relaxing more into the tub.

"I'll bet the hot water stings a bit but it should numb after your body gets the message its not going to stop, luckily most of the wounds are closed enough that this little soak shouldn't cause any problems but the Betadine will help too." he said with a chuckle and turned away from me to wipe his arm and grab the jell off of the sink. At the same time, Lacen jumped into the bath too and Callen was a little shocked to see his wolf with eyes wide attempting a puppy dog face.

"Bathe me Human!" he demanded and I couldn't help but cough out a laugh. The contrast of his attempted cute face and sudden stern demand like he was an evil dictator was pulled off perfectly.

"Well this is a first," Callen said putting his hands on hips and regards his wolf half "You want a bath, normally I need to shift and force you into the bath and even that isn't until I've..." he was cut off by Lacen barking at him loudly.

Callen chuckled and poured the jell on me, frothing it up a few seconds later then added it to the water and mixed it in. Naturally wolves don't bark but Werewolves had evolved it in an attempt to pass off as large dogs to humans.

"There, now just let that soak in, I'll go get the room tidied up and your new bandages ready." he said with a smile and walked away leaving me in the tub with Lacen. I gave a soft murr of enjoyment at the warmth of the water once the pain had stopped then rolled onto my back slowly, making sure my nose was above the frothy water to get air. Lacen never left the tub, laying down next to me on his stomach probably to make sure I was alright.

I lost track of time while submerged but I would guess it was about five minutes later, once I was pleasantly numb from the painkillers and heavenly comfortable in the water, that I felt hands on my sides. They lifted me gently from the water holding me aloft over the water and then make me stand in the tub.

"Must say, I thought you had drowned at first," Callen said with a chuckle to his voice as he wiped my face free of water allowing me to look up at him. "Don't shake yet, once the water is gone." he pulled the plug to the bath and then pulled the curtain closed around the tub. I waited, watching the water disappear down the hole and feeling the odd sensation of my weight increasing like I was being pulled down on. Once it was all gone I got my chance and shook myself, forcing much of the water from my fur, probably causing some new bleeding and leaving me looking like a wet puff ball.

"Well lookin good there! So ladylike!" he said with a chuckle after pulling the curtain to one side and leaned in with a towel to pick me up "Now I wont use the blow dryer unless you want me to but this towel should do for now." I nodded and he started rubbing me down with it. Much to my embarrassment I started nuzzling and rubbing myself against it as he worked.

"Now," he said carrying me gently wrapped in the towel "I'm not going to carry you everywhere today, so don't get used to it. First things first though." he made me stand on the floor and then draped the towel out, making me stand on it next. I watched as he grabbed a bottle placed close by and opened it.

"Stay still." he said and then started dripping the bottles contents onto my wounds. I could smell that it was the much feared Betadine and gave a whimper as it dripped onto me, staining my fur and sanitising my wounds.

"At least it isn't my fur" Lacen commented and I rolled my eyes.

"Can be arranged," I said looking at him and he shook his head "Pansy, then again not everyone can pull off the Betadine look." I added playfully and Callen chuckled as he then applied clean bandages to the area.

"Ok you two play nice, breakfast first then we have a few things to do in town," Callen scolded before walking to the door "Stay close Lien, Dad may be locked up but there are still many wolves who may try to do you harm, Lacen will stay close to you if I can't so they know you are being protected." I nodded and trotted to his heals as he opened the door and walked out.

I trotted after him trying to keep up but didn't succeed too well. My gait was impeded by lack of back strength and inability to flex my body like I was used to while in this form. I took the stairs slowly and tried not to slip, Luce and Callen watching me from the bottom patiently. As we made our way into the dining room I was greeted with glares and looks of disgust.

Lacen and Callen had left me just before entering, something about needing to talk to Alpha Leo about his father and the days task roster. Some of the pack took one look at me and turned away, the rest watched me intently with looks I knew all too well.

"Murderers don't eat in here." One male finally said loudly.

"Back into the kitchen and stop faking the injury Runt!" Another called.

"It's all your fault we now need to do all this housework!" called a female.

"My nails are ruined because of you!" came another accusation, there was a shuffle to my left and I stopped mid step and looked up finally to see several had turned in their seat to face me.

"Kick the freak back into line!" A female called and I watched as a boot was raised close to me.

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!" I heard Alpha Leo's voice and turned sharply to see him standing at the door with Callen, Lacen was sitting to Callens side looking smug, Alpha Leo's lion, Sama sitting next to him looking regal as always except for the scowl on his face. It was surprising that no one had noticed the Alpha and Callen enter the room but they had probably been more focused on me.

"Is this really how you all act around an injured member of your own pack!?" Alpha Leo asked angrily "You lot all disgust me! You have all become so complacent! So lazy, self entitled, arrogant and pompous! I cant believe you have all sunk this low!"

"Neither can I," Callen said with a sigh "I knew it was bad but never this bad, I am verry disappointed. Lien! Come here please." I nodded and skulked my way over nervously and he kneeled down to pet me gently.

"Good job, you did perfectly," he said with a smile and wink showing the two had planned it "Come, you'll eat with us this morning." I nodded following him to the top of the table where he and Alpha Leo sat.

"It looks like I have much to change around here." Alpha Leo said as both he and Callen were offered a plate of food, one brought out for me a moment later. Bacon, toast, scrambled eggs and baked beans, I hadn't had a breakfast like this in years, not since the accident and I looked at it in awe.

"Everything ok?" Sama asked regarding me and I shook my head a little.

"I..I haven't had..." I felt the eyes of everyone in the room on me, some silently threatening me to keep my muzzle shut "I haven't had a meal like this since before the accident."

"Wait," Both Callen and Leo said at once but then stopped and they each made motion to let the other go first with a look of amusement at each other.

"You mean you cook all this food, a huge amount for every member of the pack house and all you get is..." Leo finally asked trailing off his face returning to the mild shock he had had before.

"Leftovers..." I finished his line with a nod "And its usually very little if anything at all, just some cold coffee and toast usually." there was a series of growls from around the room, all of them silenced by Lacen and Alpha Sama who returned their own.

"I thought you were just thin because you chose to walk to school every day and did so much work around the house?" Callen probed and I gave a sigh.

"I never chose too... Alpha Smith won't let me catch the bus or let me get a lift to school" I responded to him truthfully.

"A lot more to fix than I expected," the Alpha lion said with a sigh "Eat till your full little lady, you deserve it... more than some in this room do." he looked around at the rest and gave another growl.

"Change what you like Alpha," Callen said with a shrug "I hope you can get this pack back to the well oiled machine it should be and not the lot of untrained self aggrandised slobs and prissy princesses that they are now." there were some scoffs, that kind of spoiled brat noise you hear from rich celebrities, mostly from the female members in the room.

"Consider it done!" Sama said showing off all of his teeth in an odd grin. Which made many of the wolves look uncomfortable. Even if he was a lone lion in the middle of a pack of wolves, Alpha Sama was an imposing presence and threat if he wanted to be. The Leo family wasn't strong for numbers but simply because it's Alpha made it so. They controlled most of the banks in the pack and had considerable influence with the other prides and packs, in our and other Were communities. Underestimating Alpha Leo or his family, was usually a disastrous move to those who did it.

I ate most of my food, leaving a slice of bacon, some beans and egg on the plate and felt full for the second time in twenty four hours. Callen stood and I followed him out to the garage where he helped me into the front seat of a car and then got into the drivers seat himself.

"Ok, Time to do a little pack business, first stop, the medical centre seeing as we are going out, then the school and finally the shops and the bank." he smiled looking down at me just as the back door to the car opened. I looked back to see Anders and his wolf, Endars, get into the car behind us, Endars sitting with Lacen on the spare seat.

"Orders" He said, drawing out the 'r's in his usual impersonation of Lurch "From the Missus" he dragged this on too almost droning it on as if he was unhappy with what he was doing but the smile he had said otherwise.

"Be good to have you along," Callen said with a chuckle "Who else can keep the school kids at bay like you can?" Anders smiled and nodded with a rumbling groan of approval as Callen started the car, pulling out of the carport and down the drive to the street.

I curled up a bit on the seat not overly bothered about the scenery breezing past the windows. I had seen it all before, mainly by walking down the streets as I was rarely ever permitted in a vehicle. It didn't take us long to get to the clinic. Callen helped me out of the car and carried me inside going straight through to the doctors office.

"Well good morning to you too Callen," Shelly greeted us with a chuckle "Place her on the table." she waved towards the examination table while she gave Anders a kiss. I laid on the metal table and she wandered over after a moment pulling on gloves and started taking the bandages off once they were in place.

"Ok, we will take a more detailed peek and then take some blood," she smiled and pulled out a syringe "And I'll use the biggest, most painful, torturous needle I have to do so!" she gave an evil cackle like a witch and Anders face palmed, Callen chuckling.

"Now now, don't torture her, she had enough of that yesterday." He scolded and she chuckled while looking over my stitching with gentle tugs.

"Spoil Sport" she responded as she tugged lightly on one of my stitches to make sure they were secure still "Ok, looking good, you followed my instructions, Now lets play vampire!" she picked up the syringe and turned back towards me.

"Ok, Cough after three," she said after locating a vein "Three, Two.." she stabbed me just after two, and I then coughed.

"Oww! You said three... mean bitch." I growled looking up a her and she giggled.

"That I am!" she said with a grin "Especially that last part! Or Anders would be in for a surprise!" Anders rolled his eyes.

"Should see her drunk," Anders said "Last time she tried to get everyone's blood then put Elizabethan collars on us, while we were in human form."

"Was that before or after she hung her bra and panties from the flag pole?" Callen asked rubbing his temples.

"Oh would you let that go? I only did it once!" she protested taking the syringe out and putting the blood into a test tube and running the needed tests.

"Once?!" Callen laughed "When drunk your underwear has a zero percent chance of staying on!"

"ANYWAY," she said suddenly cutting them off "You, orange fluffy one, any allergies?"

"None I can think of although once every few months I have these cramps and I feel so..." I started knowing perfectly well what it was but was trying to add my own shock joke and she stopped me raising her hands.

"Woh, Woh, Woh! I know all about that but not in front of the children!" she thumbed over her shoulder to Anders and Callen "When is your next cycle?" I had to think about it, not remembering when my last heat was, often mistaking the pain of my heat with the pain of abuse.

"Soon I think... Possibly the end of the week." I said and she nodded.

"Ok, well you should be healed by then, so I'm going to prescribe some Metacam-Were" she said writing it down then walked over to a large medical cabinet and pulled out a slip of pills "It's an anti-inflammatory and a pain killer normally used on dogs but its been altered for werewolves. It should help with the swelling and also stop most of the pain. It's long acting, so one a day till its all healed."

"Anything else we should know?" Callen asked as he took it from her and she started putting new bandages on me.

"Yeah, It's possible she will go into heat before the end of the week," she said looking up to him "If she does, stop the medication immediately, what's mixed into it to make it effective on werewolves could sterilise her if she goes into heat and that's something we don't want to tempt. Especially seeing as she is still so young. After that just Aspirin, it's safe for her but only one an hour till she can shift." I gave a whimper about the topic but nodded understanding her concern.

"Doesn't the packaging say no more than eight in a day?" I ask looking up at her and she nods.

"Quite right, however Were's have a faster metabolism than it was designed for and it has less of an impact, positive or negative on us." she answers simply.

"Ok, I'll keep a nose out for the signs," Callen said with a smile and picked me up "Ok, Time to go to hell." he chuckled and gave me one of the pain killers before placing me on the floor.

"Hell?" Shelly asked as she cleaned up.

"School." Anders said, drawing out the 'oo' with a lurch drone.

"Ah I see, well play nice, don't gnaw on anyone."

"I only did that once, and you were asking for it!" Lacen protested as Callen opened the door and walked out to the car, with me in hot pursuit. Once back in the car, with Anders in the back once more. I gave a small huff and curled up on the seat again as we headed towards the school.

When we eventually arrived, much to my displeasure it was during the first class change over meaning all the students were out and about. The other thing that was a huge pain was that Simba and his siblings watched as we approached the office and they all happened to have a free period before lunch time.

"Well well If it isn't the Freak!" Simba called out, unaware or uncaring of Callen and Anders close by listening, they had me surrounded before either of them managed to step in "Looks like you got what was coming to you, good thing I told your Alpha you skipped school hu? You know the Laws though, out in public in feral form! How about we punish you for him this time hmm? Save him the effort." I whimpered and cowered down as he pulled his foot back to kick me. Before he had a chance to swing it, a hand clapped down heavily on his shoulder off balancing him and Lacen appeared standing over me.

"How about," Lacen said with a growl "You look to see who his company is." Simba looked back to see Anders with his hand on him and looming over him looking like he had a shadow covering his face, he gave a long deep growl that he somehow mixed the Lurch accent into. Simba didn't seem disturbed but the others all paled at the sight of the huge imposing male who was clearly displeased.

"I would hate to need to tell your father that you were attacking an injured, defenceless female," Callen said appearing between the two females opposite Simba, brushing them aside with the backs of his hands like they were curtains blocking a doorway "Your father is currently running the pack house so I could tell him with ease."

"So what?" Simba said with a sneer "You don't scare me."

"Oh but I should," Callen retorted with a chuckle "Lien here is under my care and by extension your fathers. Should I remind you what the punishment is for your current actions?"

"Pft why should I care what the punishment is?" he retorted still acting smug.

"Because the punishment would be at the discretion of the Community Alpha," Callen grinned and leaned in to be nose to nose with him "That's ME little boy and I would quite happily make it a public flogging, in front of the entire community." Simba gave a soft growl finally realising he was out of his league this time. Anders pulled Simba to one side then leaned in and picked me up gently.

"Drop the high and mighty attitude kid, or I will find someone more fitting to become the next Alpha of the Leo pride and Alpha Prime." Callen said as he casually walked through the middle of the group and into the school office with Anders and myself in tow.

"Callen?" The receptionist asked as we walked in "I thought we were over seeing you in here. How did you get sent to the principals office after you've graduated?"

"I'm here for Neil, I need to get his work for the next week so he doesn't fall behind, so I need his schedule printed please." She looked over the desk at me and sneered a little.

"Why are you wasting your time on that?" she asked and was cut off when he slammed his hand on the desk.

"Just give me his schedule," he growled "And don't try suck up, Just print it." She looked like a deer in the headlights of a car but quickly jumped into action handing the paper over a few seconds later hot off the printer. He huffed and took it then walked out, Anders putting me down and letting me walk after him as we headed to my classes.

We didn't hang around for long, Callen's temper was rising quickly with the reactions everyone had to me. Even the teachers seemed pleased that I wasn't in their classes at the moment and didn't want me back in any hurry.

"Well, that was torture," he muttered as he climbed into the car "Never knew it was this bad, I honestly wish you had told me Neil, I would have tried to step in."

"If you had, it would have just gotten worse," I said with a sigh "You may be able to control or influence the teachers but the students would have just continued, maybe even escalated it."

"How could it have gotten worse from what I saw today?" Anders asked from behind us and Lacen gave a chuckle.

"Yes, please do tell us." the wolf said and I gave a light whimper and shook my head remembering that Simba had a silver flick knife, Lacen sighed and shook his head realising he wasnt going to get me to admit anything just yet.

"Ok, next stop is the shops," Callen said "We need to get you new clothes to replace what was destroyed as well as school equipment." I nodded I reply and he started the car then headed towards the shopping centre. It was calm at least at the shops and we managed to get a parking spot with ease. We wandered inside and Callen decided he wanted a bubble tea and he even asked me if I wanted one.

I hadn't ever ordered one before but I eventually decided on something that sounded good. I sat to one side waiting, Anders had wandered off to look at jewellery as a gift for his mate and Callen was talking to workers at the store while they worked. The shop was run by a Wereotter family, and it was oddly cute watching the two otters play around the area close to the store. I wasn't aware that anyone had walked close until there was sharp pain. I felt the crunch in my tail of the sharp point of the high heal and yelped and yowled loudly only hearing a non apologetic 'oops'. I turned quickly to scratch at the offending leg on instinct before dashing and disappearing under the tables in dining area.

"Neil!?" Callen called out then turned on the female who had stepped on me, firmly with her high heal "RACHEL! GET BACK HERE NOW!" I sadly couldn't see anything from my position but could hear everything.

"Yes sir? What is it?" She responded and he gave a growl once she had walked back to him.

"You know damn well what!" he said angrily "Mind telling me why your here? I OKed the duty roster, You are on kitchen duty today."

"I... was... sent to get some vegetables for dinner and some fruit for tonight's desert!" came her eventual response, I felt a pair of hands grab me and I yelped and turned to bite but stopped when I saw it was Anders.

"Really now?" Anders asked, sitting me on his broad shoulders as he walked over not even bothered that I had nearly bitten him. The smile he had had when he picked me up turned cold when he looked to Rachel "That would explain these!" He grabbed her shopping bags, all of them to jewellers and fashion stores and the two of them went through them, even checking the receipts.

"I can't wait to taste these delicious diamonds, they for desert?" Callen questioned rhetorically eyeing over the contents of the bags before taking all of them "Ok, Leo will decide your punishment, you have five minutes to get back to the pack house before I make it worse!"

"Wh...What? But I have a hair appointment in eight minutes!" she retorted and he growled.

"Four minutes Thirty seconds and don't worry about your 'food shopping' I will return it so you don't lose any time returning to the pack house." He smiled and watched her seem to blow a gasket.

"But...but...but..." she stammered and Callen growled loudly.

"GO!" he boomed and she yelped and ran towards the exit, heals clicking as she went "Urgh... for fucks sake now we have MORE work to do!" he turned to take our drinks from the counter staff who looked shocked by the events and then place them on a table close by.

"Come sit her on the table I'll give her tail a quick look," Callen said sitting in one of the chairs and Anders placed me down before sitting himself and went back to looking through the bags "This may hurt a little." I nodded and he started feeling over my tail, I yelped a little as he rubbed over the spot she had stepped on and I tried not the bite him as he was a little rougher which lead to a painful click followed by the pain diminishing.

"Looks like your lucky, nothing got broken just dislocated." I nodded and he gave a sigh sliding my drink over after placing the straw in it. I murred softly as I took a drink from it thankful I had learned to use a straw while in this form. It was a nice fruity combination that had looked nice on the menu, mangos, banana, some vanilla and the small fruit 'pearls' that were flavoured with apple, orange and sweet passion fruit. We got up after a few minutes then started heading around the shops, returning all of the jewellery and clothing. Callen got more and more irritated finding out at each store that it was all purchased using the community funds account.

The whole were community paid a small amount into a special account that should only ever be accessible for maintenance of the town, upkeep of the Pack house, or for emergency situations. The pack house was set up to be like a diplomatic location for the neighbouring community leaders to visit or for the local packs to settle disputes diplomatically in a neutral location. The funds helped keep it looking good and everyone in it fed so all the groceries, from cleaning products to food were purchased with the community funds. However the spending was still supposed to be kept a close eye on by the community Alpha. It wasn't supposed or designed to be used for personal items like this.

Everyone who lived in the pack house was supposed to be given pay for the chores they did, even the Community Alpha family was paid in this manner. If they wanted to earn more, they needed to get a job out In the town to help the community more but normally they were paid near $35,000 a year which was generous as they didn't need to pay for food or for their living arrangements such as power, water, heating or the room they slept in.

"Lets go check the bank amounts," Callen said once he had returned the final item "You should have plenty in there."

"In where?" I asked looking up at him a little confused.

"In your bank account." he said looking to me and I blinked a little before it clicked that he didn't know.

"What account?" I responded simply and it was his turn to blink back at me as I admitted openly I didn't have even a dollar to my name.

"You don't have one?" Anders asked looking down at me and I shook my head.

"No... Alpha Smith never opened one for me..." I trailed off and he sighed.

"Urgh more to do... C'mon, lets go get one opened, and calculate some things." he said and headed inside the bank. He was instantly met by the manager and he demanded to see the balance for the community account and to open an account for me. She was a lion and they tended to run most of the banks and stores in the community while the bank had a bear as a security guard, said males imposing form visible by the door.

She was bitter about the idea of opening an account for me, clearly siding with Callen's father on the matter but she was silenced quickly when Callen eyed her irritably telling her silently it was not a good day or time. We went through the paperwork to open the account and Callen was finally happy when it was done.

"Ok now... quick bit of maths..." he said grabbing a calculator and punched some stuff into it "Ok, Transfer... $450,000 into Neil's account from the Community account" I blinked and was a bit stumped by the amount.

"Why so much?" I asked looking up at him and he smiled.

"That is for the last ten years worth of endless chores and tasks you have done," he responded petting my head "You earned it Neil, we will use it to get you some new clothes and school supplies and so on, as it should be, not you living on hand-me-downs."

"Th...thank you." I said my ears laying back in a form of embarrassment and nuzzled at his hand making him chuckle.

"Your welcome, now one last thing" he said turning to the bank manager "Terminate all cards for the Community account, I want you to issue a single new one, a new PIN with it and do NOT mail it out, I will come in and pick it up myself along with Neil's card and PIN. There is to be no withdraws from the Community account without my or Council authorisation, understand?" she nodded and he smiled watching as she issued the order on the system and he handed over the card he had for it to be destroyed.

"Ok that is all done, is that all for today?" She asked.

"Withdraw $1,000 from Neil's account please, in cash, we still have some shopping to do." he said and she nodded punching the details in then wandered off to get it, coming back with a wad of $100's.

"Thank you," he said taking it from her after she counted it out for him "Ok boys, lets go do some shopping. Anders can you take Neil to Target please? I need to call Leo to inform him of the changes to the Community account." Anders nodded and started to escort me to the shop.

We headed down to the clothing section and Anders helped me look at the clothes by taking a shirt off the rack for me to look at and get my 'yes' or 'no'. Callen came up with a cart a few minutes latter and he quickly grabbed four basic white polo shirts and placed them into the cart.

"For school" he said simply and smiled "Want some jeans or some cargo pants?"

"Jeans get uncomfortable for some reason," I said with a sigh "Cargo's it is." he chuckled and grabbed a few pairs and I took a belt down from the display, letting him take it from me. We continued around the store, getting some shoes, a backpack, some books and general school supplies.

Once we were finished we had lunch in the food court then headed home to the pack house. I was surprised to see Alpha Leo in the front yard looking angry at several of the female wolves . A glass pane truck had arrived to replace the broken windows in my 'room'. The females were cleaning up the mess made from the destroyed box and cleaning the gardens of weeds as well as pruning the hedges in a manor that I later found out Luce had requested. When they all saw me they didn't look happy that they were working for once in the last ten years and for some, their whole lives.

"AH! Callen! Good day was it?" Alpha Leo asked as we got out of the car and Callen nodded but waved his hand in a 'so-so' gesture "Excellent! I have told all of the wolves to be in the main hall in twenty minutes, I'm sure you will have an announcement concerning this, I found it in the mail that came in this morning." he handed over a piece of paper, and Callen looked it over and frowned more and more as he got to the bottom of the page. Alpha Leo leaned down to pet me gently, obviously happy that I was getting around better. The painkillers Shelly had given me was doing wonders as I couldn't feel anything from my back except the occasional pinch when I twisted the wrong way.

"Yes... Thank you, I'm not happy I need to do this, but I guess I will have no choice," he gave a sigh and handed it back "Also, I have some bad news for you."

"Oh?" the Alpha asked looking up to him.

"Yes, Neil was nearly assaulted by Simba and your girls," Callen said simply "We managed to intervene before anything happened."

"I see... He was the one who informed Skylar of Neil leaving school wasn't he?" Leo asked and Callen nodded "I see. Well then, aren't they going to be in for a surprise when I get home?" he grinned and Callen chuckled.

"Also, Rachel is being punished with a week of no pay for trying to skip working today" Leo added and straightened up to stand again. He turned to start walking with Callen inside and we headed towards the large announcement hall.

"Good," Callen said with a smile about the punishment idea "Anders, can you take care of Neil while I handle this?" he motioned to the paperwork.

"Yarp!" came the simple and happy response making the the Alpha's chuckle. Getting into the auditorium, we sat in the front row with me sitting on Anders lap and Shelly sitting next to him, her hand petting my head while we waited. The room filled up ten minutes latter, every member of the pack house arriving and filling up the seats, all except Alpha Smith who remained in lock-up as he had attempted to assault the wolf who brought him breakfast.

"Greetings Pack Smith," Alpha Leo said stepping out onto the stage and silenced the grumbling crowd "Now first, I know you are all confused about what is going on, I will be simple. Alpha Smith is taking some leave for a few days and I am taking over until his return. In the mean time, I will be correcting the problems that this pack has, as you are all aware, starting with the chores. For the second part, I will be handing off to your new Community head Alpha, Callen." Callen walked out and Alpha Leo took a few steps back.

"Thank you Alpha Leo," he said then turned to regard the rest of the pack "Now, to start with, I personally, am disgusted with the whole lot of you with only a small handful of exceptions! I have, as of five minutes ago, emptied every single bank account of everyone in this pack. The list of those who's account have not been touched is: Future Beta Anders and his mate Shelly, Head Gamma Jeb, Myself, Sigma Luce and Omega Neil." There was a sudden uproar from around us of anger and demands for why and Anders stiffened ready to protect me and Shelly till everyone was silenced by Alpha Leo's lion, Sama giving a loud roar.

"Thank you Alpha Sama, the reason behind this is every one of you, with exception of said list, has been continuing to accept payments from the community account but have not been doing any of the work you should be doing to be getting the payments. Also, I have recently received proof that you have all been using the community account to pay for anything you want! I have now locked down the community account, only the Council now has access to it and every single card has been deactivated. From now on, it will be as it should be, as it is for myself, For Omega Neil, For Beta to be Anders, Gamma Jeb and Sigma Luce. If you don't work, you don't get paid! Now I know for a fact that none of you have been doing any chores around the pack house, so that means, you should have never been paid, so it's all gone. On your way out, there are boxes by the door, place any cards that were for the community account in there. I will also be keeping an eye on the work scheduled, no payments will go out unless I KNOW you have been working. Thank you for your attention, I now return you to Alpha Leo." Callen retreated to the back on the stage letting Alpha Leo take over again.

"Alright, I will inform you of punishments for abandoning your work," Leo said with an almost sadistic smile "We will not tolerate any of it, you skip one shift without a medical reason, which we will confirm with vet Shelly, it's a week with no pay, two shifts? A month. More than that, consider your residency in the pack house terminated. We don't care about any objections you have, this has gone on long enough. This pack is supposed to be setting an example for the rest of the community and from what I've seen, the community is screwed! Now you all know your tasks and what your supposed to be doing right now, Dismissed!"

There was a large amount of grumbling and complaining as everyone streamed out, almost every female dropped a card off in the boxes on their way past and several males did also. Anders placed me on the stage and left with Shelly and soon the room was empty except for Callen, Alpha Leo and myself and the Alphas shifts of course. Callen had taken the boxes and emptied them, counting the cards.

"How many?" Alpha Leo asked curiously and Callen sighed.

"Too many," he muttered "Two hundred and fifty nine, that means that there was at least two hundred and sixty including my card but I'm sure there is more and they don't believe that I've shut them down."

"How much did you manage to get back into the account?" I asked curiously and Callen chuckled.

"Oh you wouldn't Believe how much!" he answered with a smile "Damn near tripled what was in there, were close to a billion now."

"Wait... A Billion Dollars?" Leo blurted "Seriously!?"

"Yep, don't worry though, there are plans in the works for it." Callen said with a smile "The renovations to Neils room is costing at least a hundred thousand and there are some repairs being done to the Pack House that it's desperate for that Luce has informed me of and we have some big plans in the works for the community, as well as road repairs."

"When will you tell the council about these plans?" Alpha Leo asked a little irritable.

"Sadly won't be till after I take over from my father for the bigger things, I don't yet have enough authority to put them into effect. For now, they are just plans."

"Well don't keep it secret for too long," Alpha Leo said and sniffed the air "Aaand lunch is burnt... I must be off to contain the inevitable the fire." the Alpha sighed and walked off.

"So glad we ate out," Callen said chuckling and rolling his eyes "C'mon, you can see what I do around here on a day to day basis. Actually you can help with one of the tasks!" he smiled and I tipped my head and followed him out the back doors. We headed towards the Training grounds where some of the war wolves were doing training.

"Greetings ladies!" Callen called out and they all snapped to attention. 'War wolf' was a basic term for any male or female who was to be put on guard duty, once they got pups, females were taken off this task and put onto house work. Training was basic and mandatory for all members of a pack, the only reason I was excluded was due to hatred from the Alpha. I was now too far behind to be able to catch up to anyone else in my weight or age group.

"Today we will be doing some agility and stamina training to start off with," Callen said casually "Neil here will be assisting, I don't want a single scratch on her, Understand?" he waited for them all to nod and I looked up at him in surprise at him including me in this.

"Excellent, now its quite simple for you," he looked down at me and smiled "Catch her, unharmed and return her to me. There is to be no hiding, and no rough grabbing of her tail and try to avoid her back, scruff her gently, I don't want to see any blood understand?" they all nodded again and I whimpered softly as they all eyed me like I was the replacement to lunch.

"Have no fear," he said with a smile as he knelt down next to me "Even with this injury, they won't catch you. You are rumoured to be the fastest member of this pack, even injured I'm sure you can outrun them, have some fun with them and don't worry about your injury, your well enough for this." I nodded and he stood back up again.

"Five second head start due to her being injured, starting..." he said loudly and I looked up at him "NOW!" I bolted, going between the lot of them, surprising most of them with my boldness of going in that direction. Five seconds later, I had about fifteen wolves running after me at top speed. I kept my pace at a speed that they could catch up on and when they were just about to catch me I stopped dead and dropped as low as I could making all of them go straight over me and crash into a heap when they tried to turn around.

I chuckled internally and bolted in the other direction back towards Callen, the wolves picking themselves up quickly and giving chase again. This time I let them get a few feet behind me before picking up my speed to keep them at that distance. I ducked and weaved around the trees and jumped over roots, the wolves tripping over them or running into trees with my quick, sharp turns.

It was about half an hour later that I turned a corner and ploughed into a white mass and was left a panting heap on the floor. I looked up seeing Callen in his wolf form looking down at me with a smile and his tail wagging.

"That's it, test is over," He said looking up to the wolves who were panting heavily, some of them having given up after only a few minutes "Looks like you all need to do some more endurance training and speed training, although maybe just some basic strategic thinking would have been helpful."

"How do you mean?" one asked between pants.

"There is Fifteen of you, only one of her and a limited amount of room in the training grounds," he started "If you had thought of it, you would have use tactics to corner her, or ambush her to slow her down."

"I was surprised they didn't do that," I said with a pant "Especially after I outsmarted them at the start."

"That was well done too and quite humorous," Callen said with a smirk "At the same time your reputation as being the fastest member of our pack is well founded. You guys all should have known that Werefoxes are faster than Werewolves are. They have the speed, we have the strength, even while injured she was going to outrun you with ease."

"And I had fun doing it!" I said wagging my tail.

"We noticed." came the bitter response and Callen chuckled.

"Ok, well next is a simple exercise, this is to test and help develop your tracking skills." he shifted to midform and pulled on a pair of pants before shifting the rest of the way. He pulled out a spray bottle and sprayed me down, the smell overpoweringly strong and I recoiled a little from it "This Spray masks her scent up to ninety percent, She is to go and hide somewhere in the training grounds, and you lot are to find her. Take your time, you have one hour to find her. Go on Neil, you have ten minutes to find a safe place, Anders and I will be patrolling the grounds, if something goes wrong find one of us or return to the house." I nodded and ran off into the trees.

I managed to find a tree with with a hole at the base amongst the roots. I did a little bit of digging and managed to fit into the small den hiding place I had made for myself. I curled up in the bottom of the hole after closing up the opening a little bit to make it smaller. I was there for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet, keeping my eyes and ears open for any noises or movement and would try to be as silent as possible when I heard something.

It was about half an hour later I heard a loud commotion, I sniffed carefully, able to tell it was someone I knew way to well.

"Shit!" Lien said inside of my mind "We need to run! If he catches us in here we're dead!" I nodded in agreement and slowly and carefully crawled my way towards the entrance to my hole. I looked around, spotting the lion standing not too far away and facing away from me I crawled out of the hole and tried to sneak away.

"THERE IT IS!" I heard behind me and I froze recognising the voice of one of Simba's sisters.

"GET BACK HERE YOU!" Simba called out making me give a whimper and started running, the lions in hot pursuit "GET BACK HERE! WE GOT PUNISHED BECAUSE OF YOU!" I whimpered again and continued to run, running towards the house as fast as I could. Half way there I tripped on a root I hadn't seen and was pounced on causing me to give a loud yelp.

"Time to DIE freak! Like you should have YEARS ago in front of that car!" Simba said from above me and I whimpered loudly as I felt his claws dig into my skin. A loud, deep and angry roar rumbled out from close by making everything stop. We looked up to see a large and angry male lion walking out of the trees. It didn't take long for Callen, Anders, and the fifteen war wolves to appear from the trees around us.

"Alpha Leo!" Callen said being in human form and looking towards the other large male who was approaching my position at a casual pace. He got close and gave a furious swipe at Simba with a snarl and then pulled me closer to him with that paw, pulling me under his large frame once Simba backed off.

"Simba," Alpha Leo said growling "I am very disappointed with you." I gave a whimper and slowly crawled over to Callen, Alpha Leo allowing me to go and Callen kneeled down to look me over before picking me up.

"Interrupting training in progress, Threatening a female who is no threat to you and forcing me to shift in order to stop you from killing her," he continued to growl lowly "Home! NOW!" the Lions all bolted, heading home as fast as they could, their tails between their legs.

"Thank you Alpha Leo, for saving me." I said shaking a little, he simply nodded and started padding back towards the pack house with an air of irritation about him.

"Well I guess that ends this exercise," Callen said with a sigh and I shook my head "Oh? You want to continue? Well then how about we start again?"

"Alpha Callen!" A voice called down from above and we looked up to see a raven swoop down.

"Oh hello, and you are?" Callen asked as it landed on the ground.

"My name is Derrick, Beta to Alpha Raven, I was drawn by Alpha Leo's roar," he said with a chirp "I wish to volunteer to assist you with the exercise, I will remain a safe distance from Omega Neil as to not give away her location but I will keep out a watchful eye over her for her safety."

"Thank you for the offer but we don't want to impede you on your duties." Callen answered.

"The safety others is more important and Flock leader Raven will understand when I give my report." he answered simply.

"I understand, if you would like to help go with Neil and we will return to the start." Callen said placing me down and heading with the wolves back towards the house. The raven flapped his wings and landed on my back, thankfully not near my bandages and I waited for the others to be out of sight then headed back to the hole I had made before, Derrick perching in the tree directly above my hole.

It took nearly the whole hour before they found me. Having found my hide away once but thought I wouldn't fit inside it and moved on. It wasn't until they were heading back past that one decided to push his head in the hole and found me.

"That was a good place to hide," Anders said with a smile as we walked back to the pack house "The others didn't think you would be able to fit in a hole that small as they couldn't and surprisingly they didn't smell the freshly dug earth."

"Ah, found her I see," Callen called out approaching us "It's time to head in to wash up for dinner, everyone head to the showers, Neil come with me, I will need to change your bandages, you have dirt all through them."

"Yes Alpha." I said trotting over to him and followed him inside.


	4. Chapter 4

For the rest of my time stuck in full form, Callen helped me with my school work. He would ask me the questions and write down the answers I gave him or he would read out the needed sections from text books. If I didn't understand, he would help me to understand it, usually by telling me the way he understood it.

In return I helped him with training and the various other tasks he did around the house. I knew why he was letting me help him and was helping me in turn. By doing so he was trying to keep me active to assist with my healing, mentally with the school work and physically when I was with him during the training lessons.

Callen had me run the trainees in circles and hide in the forest so they could track me down. I learned how to leave my scent around the woods on random trees and going in big circles, covering it up as much as possible around my hiding place. Other days he was letting me act like a rogue and attack them by surprise with himself or Anders while the trainees were in human form. This gave them lessons in keeping an eye on their surroundings and how to defend themselves against rogues as a human.

Alpha Smith was allowed out of his confinement after a couple of days but was closely scrutinised by Alpha Leo. He was disgruntled and angry by what the two of them had done to his pack while he was locked up but his grumbling was silenced when told it was orders from the council. The council was convened again after Alpha Smith was released to discuss his demand to be returned to his place on the council as he was still the Alpha of the wolf packs. A demand which was denied with little deliberation among the council members.

"You have proven you do not have what it takes to lead this community by using forbidden punishment techniques on a minor and for endangering said minors life on multiple occasions." Alpha Isto had spoken with the potency of a sledge hammer on a glass nail. He was usually the least outspoken of the council, yet he spoke with utter conviction on the matter that was almost frightening and it showed the true reason why he was 'Lead stallion' of the Equines and Alpha Prime to the Herbivores "We of the Council have decided Your... 'Request', is universally and comprehensively denied."

I had the stitches pulled the day after, two days later than Shelly had originally planned. The reason she gave was that she wanted to make sure that the wounds wouldn't dehisce when the stitches were pulled. The process was quick but painless except for the occasional stitch that had a scab on it which would get caught when it was pulled. Shelly gave me permission to shift back after twenty-four hours and I had hidden myself in Callen's bathroom with a set of clothes when I did, getting to my human form once more before pulling them on.

The reason was I that I didn't want to show him the words now scared on my body. I looked myself over sadly in the mirror and at my back as best I could. The skin on my back looked like a road map with scars from whip marks and some were a little red to show they were still healing. I sighed to myself before pulling on my new shirt then stepped out into Callen's bedroom.

"Feels so odd to be human again" I said as I walked out and stretching. Lien ran between my legs and over to Lacen and nuzzled and rubbed against him as soon as she was out of the bathroom.

"How does your back feel?" Callen asked looking up at me from the desk and I blushed.

"Stings a little, feels a bit tight and is still a little red but I guess that was to be expected with what happened," I said with a shrug followed by a sigh "I'll just need to go easy on it, I'm sure if I'm too rough with it, it will open again."

"Good idea, now don't be angry for this but you are on the hunting roster for tonight," he showed his copy of the roster to me and I nodded "Take it easy out there and try to get along with the others." I chuckled and nodded again knowing that wasn't likely to happen.

"I'll do my best, see if I can come home with something tasty," I smiled as I replied to him "Where will I be sleeping tonight? I don't really expect to be staying in here with you again."

"Ah good question! Grab your basket and follow me!" he replied then slowly stood up his face a wide smile and he headed towards the door. I did as he told me to, grabbing my now treasured basket and followed after him. We walked to the door to the attic in silence, curiosity bristling inside me and he then stopped with his hand on the doorknob.

I hadn't been allowed in there all week, Callen telling me it was too dangerous but he was keeping a close eye on everything going on in my old room. I trusted him as I had nothing in there that I could lose anyway. People had been in and out all week with wood and various construction equipment and I would have been lying if I said I wasn't curious as to what they were doing in there.

"Ok, eyes closed, Lien you wait here," he said and she sat with a huff. I closed my eyes and he guided me up the stairs to my room the smell of fresh paint and an open fire as well as a rush of warm air greeted me when we got to the top of the stairs "Ok, Open." The joy could be heard in his voice and I opened my eyes, dropping the basket a second later as I took in the sight that greeted me.

It couldn't be my room, it just couldn't have been. No longer was I given full reach of the attic space, I now had a room that was roughly the same size as his. White walls and ceiling with a small chandelier hanging from it that hid the tiled roof with possibly some insulation behind it to keep out the heat in summer and cold in winter. There was a fireplace with a blazing fire where the main chimney stack was, having been built onto the stack and a nice mantle piece built around it in faux marble.

Opposite the fire was a bed made from the same colour of polished mahogany wood as my basket with two foxes carved on the foot board curled up together and coloured in gold and silver leaf. Covering the bed was royal purple sheets like my the pillow of my basket as well as a couple of fox and wolf plush toys. The window was repaired with some new curtains hanging from it to give privacy when needed. A plush deep blue rug sat in the centre of the floor on top of the new polished floor boards, a far cry from the rickety boards that used to be there.

There was closet spaces built in to the sides of the room close to the window where the roofs angle would get to shallow to stand and it helped square the room up. The clothes that I had gotten with Callen and Anders were already inside, washed, ironed and neatly arranged but there was room for plenty more.

A door to a bathroom was on the newly made wall behind the bed, a shower, free standing bathtub big enough for two, vanity and toilet as well as the standard stuff in a bathroom such as towel rail and toilet roll holder. The shower was opposite the door, the vanity with a mirror above it behind the door. A smaller square door sat between the towel rail and the shower leading into the rest of the attic where things would be put for storage.

"welcome to your new room" Callen said with a smile as Lien and Lacen came up the stairs from behind me.

"Th... This is..." I was speechless looking around the room, each new thing sending joy through me. I turned and hugged him tightly before I burst into tears, crying from joy into his chest and he chuckled a little wrapping his arms around me.

"I...I don't deserve it." I said with a weep and he chuckled shaking his head against the hair on my head and gave me a squeeze.

"On the contrary," Callen said with a loving warmth I almost didn't recognise "This is the least I could do for you. You deserve to be treated like a person, you deserve to sleep in a room that isn't cold and draughty, that isn't just filled with dust and boxes. You are the sibling my mother always wanted me to have. You are kind and considerate of others even if or when they beat you down, you have strength beyond what you and they can see, especially with the actions you took for your mate. With everything you've gone through, your still here and you keep going. That is what my mother saw in you and I see in you, that is what makes you family to me. This is the room that a member of my family deserves, the room I hope one day said family member will have their mate in."

"Th...Thank you Callen." I said hugging him tighter.

"Don't thank just me," he said with a chuckle "Thank him as well, he commissioned the bed." he pulled away from me and pointed behind me. I turned around to see Alpha Leo who had stepped up the stairs quietly, Sama next to him as always.

"A...Alpha Leo." I said blushing getting one of his warm, fatherly smiles in return and I could only hope he didn't hear the part about my mate.

"This is the first chance I've had to have a look in here since it was finished, they did well didn't they? I didn't expect them to go so far as the gold and silver on the bed but it's a nice touch, showing it is the bed for a fox. A treasured one at that." He seemed pleased with everything and I rushed forward and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you Alpha" I said feeling him hug back.

"Now now, no need to thank me, this is how you should have been living," he pulled out of the hug and picked up my basket off the floor "Just like the amount of love that went into this basket, it should have been placed in you too. It is the least that I could do for the child that Ellen sacrificed herself for. Now, I think this has a pride of place, care to put it there?" he handed over my basket after brushing the pillow off a little eyeing me knowingly showing that he did hear about my mate but decided to remain silent. I nodded taking it from him while trying to avoid looking at his eyes or face.

I walked over slowly still taking in the room and placed it down near the fire place. I positioned it so that if I was in it, I could watch both the door and the fire at the same time. I looked back towards them and noticed Alpha Leo was gone, probably having walked off to deal with another problem with the pack as Alpha Smith had barricaded himself in his office and didn't want to be hands on with with his job like he should be. I was somewhat thankful that he didn't remain to discuss my mate but at the same time was a little saddened about it.

"Now I would love to let you explore your new room," Callen said with a chuckle "But Luce has requested you assist him in decorating the Pack House ready for Christmas before you go hunting this afternoon. Anders has already been sent to find some trees for around the place, Luce wishes to take you to get some new decorations as my father destroyed what we had. I have given him the new card for the Community account, you have no budget limit at this time for the decorations, just be tasteful ok?" I chuckled and nodded giving him one more tight hug.

"Please...can I say something to you? It comes from the heart." I asked and he nodded curious, I took a step back and gave a bow to him with my left hand on my heart trying to show as much respect as I could, some tears of joy still in my eyes and I noticed that Lien was next to me doing a bow as well "Thank you, Alpha Callen, for everything you have done for me... you made all this time bearable."

"I just showed you something that I'm guessing you haven't had in a while, compassion, like any Alpha should show to his pack," he smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder "I expect you to be at my next training session, you fill the role of assistant perfectly. Now that your healed, I want to see more showboating ok?" I blushed again nodded and he turned and walked out.

I followed him soon after closing the door and locking it before heading down to garage where I found Luce waiting beside one of the pick-up trucks.

"I heard from a big pussy cat you saw your room, hope you like it." he said with his usual smile and climbed into the drivers seat. I got into the passengers seat and he started the car pulling out onto the road once I had buckled up.

"I did and do, thank you Luce," I said with a smile and spotted Lien sitting in the back with Culem "Did you have any part in it? Other than keeping it a complete secret from me that is."

"Who do you think selected the sheets and rug?" he asked with a chuckle "I also got the plush toys for your bed and just for an added bonus, I put a spell on the door so Alpha Smith can't open it." I smiled and nodded.

"Thank you again, Luce." I said warmly.

"Any time little lady, now lets go get these decorations! I plan to 'deck the halls' big time this year!" he said as we pulled into the parking lot.

Luce wasn't kidding when he said he was going to go all out. We had to do several trips back and forth from the car to get it all. We had multiple boxes of lights for inside and out. Baubles and tinsel for the trees and randomly around the pack house. Wrapping paper for dozens of gifts as well as lawn ornaments and inside decorations. I was shocked by how much he got, easily filling the back of the pick up. While it was surprising, it wasn't, Alpha Smith had destroyed what he had had before so it all needed to be replaced.

The whole time I looked over stuff in the shops and was thinking of gifts for Callen, Luce and Alpha Leo. I spotted a few things but didn't get anything other than a dream catcher with a wolf curled around it, its tail dangling down the bottom. I intended to hang this in my room near the window to try to ward off any evil nightmares I may have in the future.

"Must be my angel side that loves this so much," Luce said with a chuckle and tied down the last box "And I haven't even gone shopping for presents yet."

"You don't need to get me anything," I told him with a smile "You've done more than enough for me already."

"Like keeping this quiet from Callen?" he asked lifting my shirt to expose my chest and stomach and I gave a yelp before I pulled away flattening my shirt to my belly firmly with my hand to hide it.

"P...Please don't tell him... How did you..." I started whimpering softly and he lifted his hand to stop me.

"For now, the secret is safe with me," he said and motioned for me to get in the car "But, you should tell him, sooner rather than later. As for how I knew, I'm not stupid Neil, I'm am a sigma as you well know. I knew the moment you got home that day what had happened, your clothes in tatters and covered in your blood, more than if it was a mere scratch from claws. Your nightmares only solidified it all to me... I could also smell the Silver that was used against you lingering on your skin." I sighed and nodded climbing into the car and he got into the drivers seat.

"Don't leave it too long to tell him Neil," he said sternly "This isn't just some small school yard rule that has been broken here, this is a major law, one made for a damn good reason." I nodded again and he let it drop with a comforting pat to my shoulder and soft smile before he started the car.

When we arrived home Callen and Alpha Leo were unsurprised by the amount and had several others help us carry it all inside and store all of it in the library room for now. Anders arrived back just after we finished and Luce headed out with him to retrieve the trees for the Pack house.

It was dark before they returned and Luce said that he would begin decorating in the next few days. There was a huge tree for the main entrance hall that reached up to the third story, one for the dining room, the Council room, library, the Alpha's office, his bedroom, Callen's room, Anders's room and my room. He told everyone else if they wanted a tree they needed to get their own and we would quite happily decorate it for them.

Dinner was served soon after, a roast that was nearly destroyed if not for Callen coming in to check on their cooking. I headed up to my room shortly after and changed to my fox form once I hung up the dream catcher and curled up to watch the fire. I jumped at a banging on my door and called out that they could come in.

"Lets go Runt," a high position wolf said as he stepped into the room "We are under orders by the Alpha's son and Alpha Leo to take you on the hunt!" I sighed and nodded walking over to him. He picked me up roughly by grabbing my scruff and carried me, swinging me back and forth as he walked. I stayed limp and let him do as he wanted only yelping when I was thrown to the ground in the back yard and rolled on the lightly snow covered grass.

I didn't give a growl like I wanted to, I just picked myself up and shook myself as he and a few others changed to their wolf forms. They sneered in my direction before we wandered into the forest, with them in front of me as was usual when I went on a hunt. It was a rare occurrence for me to go on a hunt but I tended to enjoy it, being allowed in fox form to run through the hunting grounds letting Lien take over. The community had strict areas for certain shifters, the 'hunting ground' was the largest and often had prey wandering through from the north even the occasional moose or two wandering down.

The separation between areas was intentionally done and strictly regulated. The hunting ground was for the carnivores only, any herbivores were taught that they could be accidentally considered prey if they stumbled upon a hunting party. We didn't want to kill any others of the community, only wild animals.

"Alright Fox," the lead wolf said turning to look at me "Get lost, we don't need you." this was no shock to me. It was usual for them to just ditch me when I was called to go hunting. I sighed and nodded turning and wandering off while they loped off into the bushes in pursuit of deer or other large game.

"Whatever," I thought as I trotted in a random direction away from the pack house into the hunting grounds "I'll just catch a hare or something as usual... add that rare taste to the stew that everyone compliments on but never knows where its from..." I sniffed the air catching the scent of some prey and just let Lien take over. She was better at hunting than I was, being more in tuned with our instincts and all and I let myself go blank while she did her thing.

I wasn't aware she had caught something till she alerted me to a noise of something large and possibly dangerous in the bushes nearby. I took back over and looked up, sniffing at the air again and gave a soft growl before wandering over to look. There he was, my mate sitting not too far away from me and watching the stars through a gap in the trees above him.

Why was he still here? I had told him to leave, to never come back, the idiot was going to get himself and myself killed. He seemed cold, shivering a little in the cool night air. Winter was well under way and snow covered most of the ground except where he sat. He seemed so perfect though, sitting back and contemplating the state of the universe as he watched the sky above.

"Mate." I yipped out and he turned his head sharply to look at me. He obviously didn't understand me but watched as I stepped out of the bushes and smiled as he seemed to recognise me.

"Oh it's you," he said with a smile "Hello again... I'm sorry I just couldn't go, something kept me here. I managed to get to the mountains but then... I just couldn't go any further." Lien took over and changed me to mid form, stepping me over to him and I smiled both internally and externally.

"I'm glad you came back my mate," Lien said still in control and I leaned forward and kissed him deeply. My first kiss... Goddess it was like a bomb of pleasure went off in my body just from that contact, his warm lips on my foxy ones and his tongue against my own sent shivers down my spine.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I suddenly heard behind me and I jumped and whimpered slowly turning to face the wolves that had been sent with me on the hunt snarls on their muzzles, teeth covered in blood from the deer they had felled showing "That's a Human! You have a Human Mate!? You just get more and more disgusting Runt! Get them!" I whimpered more as we were surrounded by the angry wolves and he clung tightly to me obviously terrified.

I knew this would happen, It was over now, I knew I could out run them easily but he would be torn to shreds if I did. I decided I had no choice, I had to stay with him, if we were to die, I would die with my mate not alone like a coward. For once in my life, I showed I had guts and stayed with him.

"Please," I said looking to my mate my ears low on my head "Don't fight, don't run... just obey and follow us ok?" he nodded and I changed back to full fox as he stood up. I looked back at him to make sure he was following and we started back towards the pack house. I managed to grab the hare I had caught on the way past it and handed it off to Luce when we got back, the Sigma watching us pass with sorrow on his face.

We all changed forms, personally changing myself behind a door so no one would see my scars before my mate and I were escorted to Alpha Smith's office in painfully tight cuffs. All the way we were eyed like we were the scum of the universe with whispers going back and forth between them. I even managed to hear someone say that I 'didn't deserve a mate' and 'predictable, it's a human' but I refused to let them break me, not this time.

When we arrived we were forced to the floor with a kick to the back of our knees and Lien curled up around his legs whimpering softly. Callen was already there, having had an argument obviously with his father at some point just prior. Looking up at my life long tormentor and Alpha who looked down at us with pure malice and disgust, knowing that my life and my just found mates life was at an end.

My life had always been a roller coaster of sadness and the occasional bit of joy. Even though we were about to be killed, I held onto the simple joyous truth that I had finally found my mate and we would be together in the afterlife, to a place where Alpha Smith and Simba couldn't follow.

"Pathetic creatures!" Alpha Smith says and kicks my mate in the stomach making him groan and curl up on himself "And you Runt! I never thought you could sink any lower. Being Mates to a piece of human trash!" I whimpered softly looking to Lien who stayed where she was up against our mate.

"I don't need to wake the council to decide the fate of you two pieces of garbage!" Alpha smith said from above us drawing my attention once more "Runt, for exposing us to the Humans, you are sentenced to be executed!"

"Dad!" Callen called out trying to interrupt but was was silenced with a glance.

"Silence boy!" Alpha Smith called waving his hand in his direction "Your mate will also be put to death along with all humans he has come in contact with in the last twenty four hours! GUARDS!" The two guards outside the door walked in obediently, they were Alpha Smiths new personal body guards named Jeb and Leon.

Leon was a Werelion and Alpha Leo's younger brother, he had been given the position possibly by Alpha Leo himself to keep an eye on Alpha Smith. He was generally kind and silent but was the Beta to the Leo family, meaning he was on par, strength wise, with Anders and possibly Callen.

Jeb was one of Callen's closest friends seeming to solidify, at least to me, the possibility they were keeping an eye on the now obviously dangerous Alpha. Jeb was a little slow sometimes but was as dependable as the sun was to rise in the morning. Callen could, and often did, trust him with any task that he wanted done expediently and efficiently, so he had been placed in command of the scout parties and the armoury.

"Yes Alpha?" Jeb asked looking down at me with some sympathy.

"Kill them," he ordered pointing to us "Then take a platoon and wipe out this trash humans family, and anyone else they may have had contact with." He growled looking down at us having said it all as if he had just ordered the extermination of cockroaches.

"Recruit the Leo family, they have been itching to show they are powerful." Alpha Smith knew that Alpha Leo would want no part in this but due to the laws, would have no choice, even Leon looked uncomfortable with the idea of being involved.

"Dad stop!" Callen called irritably and with some shock to his fathers blood lust.

 

"I SAID SILENCE, Or do you want to JOIN them!?" He looked back at his own son half crazed. Then back to Jeb and Leon "You two, Kill them!"

"I'm Sorry," A calm voice called out firmly "But I can't let you do that." There was a flash from behind us and everyone turned to see someone in a long brown robe with a cowl covering his face. He seemed to radiate power and authority even though he was hidden from view and I couldn't help the small whimper I gave out.

"Who the hell are you!?" Alpha Smith demanded angrily. The man took off his hood, exposing what looked to be an anthro red eastern dragon below it. His eyes were gold in colour with slits and two golden horns that swept back gracefully from his head, spines running between them down the back of his head. Two long whiskers hung from either side of his snout and his scaled skin shone like well polished marble.

"Alpha Skylar Andies Smith," he said walking towards us, I cowered a little from him as he came to stand directly behind myself and my mate yet made no motion towards us but kept his eyes locked on Alpha Smith "I am here to inform you that your time as an Alpha is at its end. Every species was warned about war with humans on August sixth, 1945, at eight fifteen AM and here you are, ignoring our warning." Why was that date so familiar? I couldn't place it sadly. However what he said rang a bell for another reason. 'Our warning'? Could that mean he was a Monger? One of the legendary race? I had believed they were only fairy tails told to keep the young in Were communities from misbehaving. He clicked his fingers drawing our attention back to him before he decided to continue talking.

"You now have two options, Alpha Skylar." He said slowly but deliberately "We are ready to kill your entire pack if need be and can do so with one wave of my hand. I am however, willing to spare the loss of innocent lives for your blood lust, if you submit to the ruling and allow your son to end your life and take over as Alpha. You have One minute to decide" I whimpered softly hearing this, would he really wipe out our whole pack?

Looking back to Alpha smith I could have sworn I saw steam come from his ears. His wolf Lykar rolled his eyes and gave a sigh. He, like I, knew that Alpha Smith would not let a threat like that go down easy, hell the Alpha Smith I knew would never sacrifice himself for his pack, he would order the pack, the whole community to the slaughter if it meant he could get away safely.

"How dare you!" He started, growling deeply "How dare you enter my home and threaten ME!" He pulled a nine millimetre hand gun from its holster on his side and started to shoot at him emptying the clip, only for the bullets to stop mid air before dropping to the floor in front of me. Silver, my mind said as I looked at them and pulled away from the bullets knowing that silver bullets were strictly forbidden to everyone outside of war time, no exceptions.

"You have thirty seconds to come to your decision Alpha." the Lizard said unperturbed "One more outburst like that and I will act on my own accord." I turned back to Alpha Smith then quickly grabbed my Mate and ducked as he lunged, screaming like a madman. There was a strange wet 'shunk' noise and I looked up to see Callen standing just next to me, a sword in his grasp that went through his father who looked shocked at the fact his own son had taken such an action.

"Wh....Why? Callen Why?" Alpha smith asked watching his son, some of his blood dripping to the floor.

"Better you," Callen said slowly "Than the pack." He gave a push against his father with the sword then pulled it free, his father falling onto his back onto the floor with a wet thud, blood quickly pooling around him. His eyes met mine as Lykar, his wolf, curled up on his chest.

"Thank you." were the last words of the wolf before they closed their eyes together and Lykar faded away. For some reason I found myself saddened that they were gone. No longer would I see the handsome and friendly Lykar around the pack house, the wolf who I attributed all of Alpha Smiths once kind actions to.

"Alpha Callen Smith," the Lizard said getting our attention once more and I looked up to him once again still in awe of his appearance "I apologise for putting you in the position that you had to kill your father but we both know..."

"It was necessary," Callen said with a sigh and placed the sword against a chair close by "My father was sick and had become a tyrant and a bully, it's just a shame that I needed your help to put an end to it." This was true... the man had become a tormentor and had done nothing less than try to spread his misery out to the others in the community. His order for human contact to be cut off had come to a hard blow and his order that mid form was forbidden was an even harder one to most Weres in the community.

"I am glad to have been assistance." the dragon said giving a bow and turned to leave.

"Sir?" Callen called to him making him stop and look back "Come back any time."

"If I were you," He started coldly, turning to look at him more seriously now "I would hope we never meet again, for if we did, it means that we would be at this cross road again." He turned away and vanished leaving us in the Alpha office, which now belonged to Callen.

"Sir?" Jeb asked trying to get Callen's attention.

"All standing orders from my father are suspended!" He said "Leave us, I wish to talk to these two alone, take that with you." he motioned to Alpha Smiths lifeless body and waited for them to leave and close the doors, taking the body with them before he sat behind the large redwood desk.

"I always hated this room," Lacen muttered as he nuzzled against Lien, getting nuzzles in return "Too many bad decisions and memories of our father."

"Mmm, I agree," Callen responded with a sigh but then his face brightened "Anyway, you two, up, Neil help your human to stand." I nodded and slowly got to my feet, helping him up and both Callen and my mate gave a soft smile seeing my worried face and Lien still whimpering pressed up against our mates legs although he couldn't feel it.

"Calm down, I know that your choice of mate is something you can't control," he started slowly "You two are free to go home and live your lives. If anyone else has problems with you, come tell me and I will end it for you." we nodded slowly.

"Thank you Alpha." we both said at the same time and Callen chuckled. We turned to leave, opening the door to go.

"Oh and Neil," he called out as we were just about to step out "Don't let anyone call you 'Runt' again, consider that an order from your Alpha. Now see the guards outside to get those cuffs off" he gave us a wave to say were free to go and I slowly stumbled out into the hall where the wolves who had been on the hunt with us removed the cuffs from our wrists begrudgingly.

"So... now what?" I heard my mate say and I chuckled softly turning to look at him while rubbing my wrists.

"Food first I think," I said with a smile "I'm sure you haven't eaten in a few days." just to punctuate my point his stomach growled and we both laughed as I started guiding him down to the kitchen.

"So what's your name?" I asked as we entered the kitchen.

"Xander," he said with a smile "Yours is Neil?" I nodded and had him sit on a stool while I prepared some leftovers for him, grabbing some leftover roast and vegetables and putting it in the microwave.

"So... What are you?" he asked and I sighed softly knowing the question would come up sooner or later but sooner was probably best.

"I am a Werefox I guess you would call me." I told him with a smile and I watch Lien sit at his feet and nuzzle against his legs. We both knew he wouldn't feel or see the action but it was a cute loving gesture from her.

"And your a girl?" he asked and my eye twitched then they rolled as I placed the plate in front of him, here we go, getting to the more complicated questions.

"That's kinda complicated," I answered with a sigh "I am male as a human, my fox is female, so when I shift I become a female... and yes, everything works in both forms." I watched as he started eating, cutting the meat up and nearly choked when I tacked on that last part.

"Is that... normal?" he asked taking a drink then returned to his food and I shook my head.

"Nope, I am the only Were in history that has ever had the condition." I said with a smile. He nodded and continued to eat and I just watched him. Creepy I know but I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

"So... What am I to you?" he finally asked as he finished the plate and I blushed deeply "They kept calling me your 'mate'."

I spoke simply "You are my mate and to us that is something more than an endearing term of friendship," His only response was an expression of confusion, and the look made me chuckle. "okay... how to explain this...."

I looked around the room, finally settling on a couple of empty containers, and went to pick one up. "Okay... think of it this way." I said picking it up "Weres are unique, we go through life as one half of a whole. When we turn eighteen, we can finally meet the other half of our whole, our soul mate, or mate for short" I lifted the lid to the container.

"They are the other half of who we are, the one my animal and I are destined to be with for the rest of our lives and love unconditionally. Like this lid is meant to go on this container, our mate is the Yin to our Yang, the Tick to our Tock. Yes we could get with others, but we will never feel as whole in life as with our mate." I lifted the lid to the other container that was smaller and placed it in to try to show the point before removing it and setting its proper lid on.

"You are mine," I said with a soft smile "And I am yours, destined to be together as lovers till our time runs out." he remained silent for a minute, trying to process it all.

"But... I'm human." he said sadly and I chuckled softly.

"For now," I said and he blinked "That bit can be changed but I won't push that just..."

"How?" he asked before I even finished my sentence and I blushed brighter than I thought I ever would, possibly starting to glow.

"Well... During sex, if I bite you, giving you what's called the 'mating mark' and you do the same... well I'm sure you have seen werewolf movies and know what should come next," I blushed deeply, not sure I was ready to explain it all "But it's a painful process that takes a few hours... I would rather you be in a better condition physically before we do that and Doc Shelly is on standby to help if problems come up" Xander nodded. It wasn't that I didn't want to fuck him, hell I wanted to get in bed with him and be fucked by him till we're screaming the house down possibly a sign that my heat was starting. However the change takes a huge toll on humans when they first go through it.

"Cmon, lets go get you cleaned up and in bed, I'll even let you sleep with me being fuzzy if you want." I said with a chuckle and he nodded and stood walking with me. We passed Luce on our way to the bedroom who smiled and waved as we passed, mouthing about wearing a condom before we were out of eye sight.

"This is your room?" he asked as we entered and I nodded "Its nice." Lien wagged her tail and ran around his legs at the compliment.

"Its just been renovated," I said with a chuckle and threw a new log onto the fire "You should have seen it before, was a cavern. Go have a shower, there's a towel in there you can use." he chuckled at my comment of it being a cavern of a room and I pointed to the bathroom for him to go wash up. The door clicked closed as he stepped in and I turned to Lien once we heard the water running.

"Cmon, lets shift... I don't want him to see..."

"The scars?" she asked with a light growl "You know he will find out eventually."

"yes... but I would rather that be later." she continued her soft growl before giving a sigh and nodded. I stripped and shifted, the familiar feeling of my fur and tail coming back before the shower was turned off. I smirked and stepped to stand in front of the door, lips pulled back in a wide toothy grin as he opened the door and he jumped.

"Oh Jesus! NEIL!" he scolded and flicked my nose "Bad girl!" for once I didn't mind the term and simply giggled at him, my tail wagging a mile a minute before making my way to the bed. He still had the towel around his hips and looked around nervously as I got under the sheets.

"What's wrong?" I asked and he blushed deeply.

"I... Is there something I can wear?" he asked and I chuckled

"Why? Not like I'm not going to see it eventually anyway" I said "Besides, I have one too... usually... and when you live in a house full of Weres, you see plenty of them." he blushed more before giving a sigh and nodded dropping the towel and quickly got into bed before I could see much anyway.

"There, that's better isn't it?" I asked him with a smile and licked his forehead. He nodded and smiled looking into my eyes then pulled me into a tight hug and kissed me deeply. I gave a soft moan and returned the kiss letting his tongue into my muzzle. We continued kissing for what felt like hours, neither of us wanting to let the other go for hell or high water. Sadly tiredness soon started to take over and I broke it before rubbing my muzzle against his neck and cuddling up to him.

"Sleep well my Xander." I said with a smile and wagged my tail under the sheets.

"You too Neil" he responded with a yawn.


	5. Chapter 5

I awoke feeling so happy, so warm, so good and confused as to why I felt so good. It took me a moment to realise that I was in mid form, on my new bed, with Xander spooning me from behind. Surprisingly even though his arm went over my belly and sharply up to cup a breast, I didn't mind one bit. I was also curious why there was drool on my pillow. When I shifted a little I noticed something hard wedged between my legs and gave a groan or realisation. My mates morning wood, pointing into just the right spot between my legs where one day I hoped it would go.

"Really Lien? You had to make me drool?" I thought to her inside my head and only got giggles in return. I groaned again and slowly rolled onto my back waking him and he started to stir, it was much too early for her to be so cheerful. It was then I noticed Culem sitting in my basket by the fire which had died down to only a few glowing embers of charcoal over the night, watching us with his icy blue eyes and a smirk on his feline features. I yelped and sat up sharply, this time jolting Xander awake making him look around in shock.

"CULEM!? How long have you been there!?" I asked my mate looking around confusedly.

"Not long," he said with a chuckle "Alpha has called a community wide announcement, you are expected in the auditorium." I sighed and nodded.

"Go, I need to explain some things to my mate, we will then join everyone." I said and rubbed my temples, Xander was still looking around curiously as to who I was talking to. Culem walked out, passing right through the door as usual, leaving me with Xander and I gave my nose a gently rub and then a kiss to the side of the head.

"Calm down, I know your confused" I said patting his leg and he nodded "I'll explain what I can as best I can."

"W...who were you talking to?" was his first question and I chuckled softly.

"Ok, let me explain something else about Were's," I started "Were's... well you know we have two main forms right? Human, and our animal, with a third one available, that being the one I'm in at the moment being a hybrid of the two, we call it our mid form. Our animal side is like a separate conciousness within us, a mind that is in closer connection to our instincts than our human side is." he nodded slowly, seeming to be understanding so far.

"When we are human, our animal side takes on a... spectral form I guess you could call it. Think of it like a ghost that only Were's can see or feel. They have their own names and personalties, we can communicate with them, talk with them openly and some times they are used for messaging. We will send them to talk with another to get a message out quickly." I watched his face, trying to read his expressions and thoughts "With me so far?"

"I think so..." he responded "So what's yours?"

"Her name is Lien and as much as she wants to come out and talk with you, we don't have time right now sadly," I said and sighed softly knowing she wanted more than just talk to him "Just now, when we woke up, Culem was in the room. He is the animal side of Luce, the butler I guess you could call him. They wished to tell us that there is a meeting in the main hall by Alpha Callen, we will be expected." he nodded and I got out of bed, pulling some clothes out of one of the closets for him and then myself.

"You get dressed, I'll change and dress." I passed him the clothes and he looked at them then to me as I headed to the bathroom.

"Why not out here?" he asked and I gave a soft whimper as Lien asked me the same internally.

"As much as I want to," I said softly "There are some things I am not ready to show you... and before you ask, no, its not sexual." he nodded with a blush developing on his face and watched me go, once the door was closed I quickly shifted, letting Lien run out to him while I pulled on clothes. I was sure that once he got his fox, Lien would tell him everything that I was trying to hide but for now I would keep it secret.

I pulled on my clothes quickly and neatened myself up before walking out finding him waiting for me. He had thrown a few logs on the fire managing to get it restarted to keep the room warm. He smiled and pulled me close giving me a kiss which shocked me a little.

"Well, don't you look cute," he said chuckling and I blushed deeply "You may be male as a human, but If I'm your mate, I'll love you regardless of form and gender." I felt my heart flutter and Lien danced around him yipping and wagging her tail.

"C'mon you horny thing, let's go to this meeting before we get in trouble for missing it." I told him and he chuckled nodding and followed me closely. He was a little intimidated by the others around us and the looks we were getting but soon we were in the packed auditorium looking up at our new Alpha and Beta.

"Greetings all! For those who are not aware, there has been a change of leadership!" Callen called out "Last night, my father, Alpha Smith, passed away meaning the burden of leading you mob of delinquents has passed to me." there was some grumbling from around the room, no one happy that the changes that had been made would not be reversed now that Alpha Smith was gone.

With Callen in command, things would quickly change to how they should have been for years now. He would also finally be able to control the community with the power of a true pack Alpha, not just a figure head in place because of his unstable father.

"As well as the change to leadership, I am changing a few rules." He announced looking around the room as everyone fell silent "One, my Fathers rules of no hybrid form to be used is hereby amended to in public. We don't want government agents sniffing around but feel free to be comfortable at home or in the safety of a building. Two, my fathers rule of no contact with humans is hereby rescinded, just be sensible about it, do not expose us to ANYONE but your mate if you happen to meet them. Three, My fathers rule of death to humans who come onto pack lands is rescinded, we need trade and that means human contact. Four, my fathers rule of gay couples to be exiled, is hereby rescinded, permanently! If ANY of you have a problem with that, see him." He thumbed over his shoulder to Beta Anders standing next to him in his hybrid form. The cameras shifted to get a look at him and he laid his ears back and growled softly pulling his lips back to expose his teeth.

Anders had never liked cameras or being in the public light but he seemed to be handling this part well. There was shuffling from around the room and people started to shift, ears, fur and tails quickly becoming common around the room.

"Down boy," Alpha Callen said chucking as the cameras returned to him and got the same from myself and others around the room "There will be more changes to come. For now, the border guard is to be reinforced along our southern border with the vampire clans and north east where the rogues were spotted, they may try to act on the turbulence of the change of leadership. Any questions?" after a quick look around the room I raised my hand, something that seemed to surprise him and Xander next to me.

"Ah Neil, yes I almost forgot," He smiled and cleared his throat turning a little darker and more serious now "I have heard rumours of parents killing the runts of their litters, and I am all too aware of the abuse that befalls the runts that survive. Let me make this as clear as day for all of you. If I hear one more thing about mistreatment to the runts of this community, you will be severely punished understand? The eighteenth century thinking has got to stop." There was an unsteady shuffling around the room and he waited for it to finish, most eyes had turned to look at me then sharply away.

"Good! That concludes today's conference. Have a good day, and stay safe." he turned and walked off stage followed quickly by Anders. I gave Xander a hug and we filtered out of the room with the others.

"Pain in the ass, why couldn't you just stay out of it!?" I heard a male say to my left followed by several all agreeing with him from around me. Clearly they weren't happy that they were going to lose their favourite slave and punching bag. I rolled my eyes and squeezed Xanders hand a little tighter, getting some strength from his presence.

"I could ask Alpha Callen to explain it to you all personally," I responded feeling some bravery now I had Xander by my side and Alpha Callen backing me, even if it was only in spirit at the moment "I'm sure he would LOVE to fill you in on it in detail... Personally." they fell silent and I squeezed Xanders hand a little more as we made our way to the dining room to get some breakfast.

We grabbed a plate each and loaded them with what was available. Pancakes, doughnuts, coffee and toast before sitting at a random table. We sat hip to hip as we ate, relishing in the close contact till we finished eating.

"So what now?" Xander asked and I chuckled

"Well, how about we go clothes shopping? Get you something more fitting than my clothes and same for myself," I suggested "As much as you would like me to go around naked in my mid form, I don't plan on not having my chest and crotch covered."

"Now there's a Plan!" Luce said from behind us and I and several others at the table jumped a little. We turned to look back at him, he was creepy like that, able to sneak up on you without anyone noticing "I need to get some more decorations!"

"MORE?!" I said in disbelief "Will we be needing a pick-up again?"

"Maybe" he said rubbing his chin like he was stroking some beard he didn't have "C'mon you will need a lift anyway." he smiled and turned to walk to the garage. We followed him after putting our dishes in the kitchen to wash, getting a few irritated looks from the males doing them. I sat in the back with Xander, our hands touching as Luce drove towards the shops once more, Lien laying with her head on our hands.

"So who is this?" Xander asked indicating to our current driver and Luce chuckled, Lien sitting between us giving a groan seeming to know what was coming.

"Greetings Xander, Mate to Neil!" the Sigma suddenly started grandly before I could say anything and Culem turned to look at us from the front passenger seat and rolled his eyes "I am Luce, Sigma and butler to the Smith pack household. You may call me Luce!" he seemed overjoyed to be creeping him out.

"How do you know my name?" He asked and Luce looked at him in the rear vision mirror, his ice blue eyes showing more than just the glee he felt at the moment.

"I know many things good sir!" he answered cryptically keeping his overly loud and grandiose tone "As I mentioned before I am a Sigma, a hybrid between Angels and Weres. This gives me multiple unique abilities that assist me in day to day life. Yes angels are real, no you don't want to meet one, yes I know why you were out in our hunting grounds, yes I know why you're not with your parents and yes Neil! I am the reason he did not cross the border into the northern pack lands!" I face palmed as he started laughing manically in the front seat of the car as we pulled into the parking lot of the shopping complex.

"Do excuse him," I said to Xander as we found a parking spot "He rarely gets to show his true colours like this. He isn't insane just... free spirited like the rest of us wish we could be. Wait till you meet his animal, Culem or randomly see his eyes and teeth glowing in the dark as he walks down the halls at night!"

"What what do you mean?" Xander asked looking at me nervously and I chuckled.

"Think of the Cheshire cat..." I said with a chuckle as we unbuckled our seatbelts "He usually has that kind of smile on his face and wanders the halls in a blackout. Just to make it more creepy he makes his teeth and eyes glow."

"How does he do that?" Came the simple question and Luce rotated in his seat, the familiar smile on his face.

"I'm Part angel! Its Magic!" he said then laughed again as he got out of the car.

"You get used to him," I shrugged "C'mon, lets go get some new clothes." we climbed out and started wandering inside following Luce who was still giggling to himself.

"Culem can you come with us?" I asked the Leopard "In case we, or he finish our shopping early and need to find the other party." He nodded and walked over to follow us. We wandered around the stores for a while and I let Xander get what he wanted. New shoes and pants, underwear, shirts all before we headed to a ladies fashion store.

We had stopped outside it, mainly due to my hesitation. Being a female in mid form and full form was one thing, dressing as one was another thing entirely. It would give the others more to insult me about although at the same time I now had Xander for support.

"I... I don't know." I whimpered softly as Xander pushed me and Culem lead me into the store.

"C'mon you were the one who said you wanted something to cover up with when in mid form!" Xander protested, Lien sat with Culem and they both started giggling.

"Your not welcome in here!" one of the shop attendants said pointing at me "We don't allow murderers in this store!" I whimpered as Xander stopped pushing, the attendants wolf who was prowling the store stopped and growled in my direction.

"Murder?" Xander breathed out and I whimpered more looking at him. Suddenly there was a shadow over the two of us and I held my breath in fear over who It could be.

"Oh did I hear someone being accused of something that was a total accident?" we heard and I looked up to see Luna Sarabi Leo and just behind her was her mate, Alpha Mufasa Leo, their lions walking shoulder to shoulder behind them.

"L...Luna Leo...Alpha Leo" I stuttered looking back at them and trying not to implode now I was standing before two powerful leaders of our community.

"Hello Omega Neil, I take it this fine young gentleman is your mate?" Luna Leo said with a warm smile towards us and I nodded "Excellent! I take it your shopping for some clothes for your mid form too? By the looks of it you've already got some for this handsome mate of yours too! Muffy, could you..." she motioned towards the shop attendant and the tall Alpha male walked past us and into the store not stopping in his assertive walk towards the attendant.

Luna Sarabi was kind to everyone with a warm motherly affection that was unexpected of a top level predator. She was one of the few who was openly kind to me whenever we met and usually silenced those who slung abuse with no more than a glance. She was cool, calm, collected and downright terrifying if crossed. Several years ago there was an incident with one of the elephant herds and while in human form, she stared down a charging bull elephant with naught but a smile on her face and a rolling pin in her hands. The elephant lost.

She was rumoured to be good friends with every mother in the community and she was said to be able to call on all of them to her aid, their families included, with but a whim. If Alpha Leo was the face of the Lion prides, SHE was undoubtedly the power behind that face and she had the saying 'The man may be the head of the household, But the Woman is the neck! And she can turn the head Any way she Wants.' as a plaque in her kitchen.

"Luna?" Xander asked and I blushed.

"Oh right, I never did explain all the different terms," I said turning to face him Luna Leo standing to our side between us listening and waiting for her mate to return "Usually the terms denote different ranks, Alpha is the top of a Were household, examples being Alpha Leo or Alpha Callen who is our Alpha. Luna is the Alpha's mate, example being Luna Lady Leo here." I motioned to her and she chuckled and gave my arm a light, playful slap.

"Please! Its Sarabi!" she protested and I chuckled softly knowing I would never call her that.

"Next is Beta, they are the second in command in a pack, ours is Anders, the black wolf you saw on stage this morning, the Leo Beta is Leon," I said and smiled with his nod seeing he understood "After that is Gamma, this is a general term to denote almost any within the family. At the bottom of the ranking... is the Omega... usually the runt in a household, they tend to be the weakest in a family."

"Do you have an example?" Xander asked and I looked away a little ashamed of myself.

"Neil is the Omega in your particular pack," Luna Sarabi said sadly "Although not by choice of his own or as a sign of his strength and Kovu is Omega in our pride. I am sure you will meet my little Kovu later." she gave a warm smile and Xander shrugged.

"He may be Omega to everyone else... but he is MY Luna." the human said with a smile and she clapped her hands and hugged us both.

"That's what we like to hear! That's exactly the spirit we like to have in our society," she said joyfully, her lion, Airas purring loudly. We looked up as we heard footsteps approaching "All sorted honey?"

"Oh yes," Alpha Leo said walking over smiling with a toothy grin "It won't happen again." he finished and took her hand as they made their way inside. I could see the sales assistant standing behind the register looking a bit pale. Whatever Alpha Leo had told her, it clearly had its intended effect.

"I'll ask later what it was all about," Xander said giving my hand a squeeze "In the mean time, lets get you something to wear so you turn everyone's heads when your the fox I know you are." I rolled my eyes and wandered in with him hand in hand.

"You missed one." Culem said from next to us as we walked in and I nodded.

"There is one last Rank we forgot to mention," I said softly as we walked around the store getting his attention away from a rack of panties that I would prefer not to wear "Sigma, They are unique as they are usually a mix of Were and Angel or Were and Demon. Luce being an example of the former, they are capable of wielding magic, sometimes to devastating results." he nodded before pulling a bright green tube top off of a rack.

"This looks good" he said and I chuckled softly.

"Orange and green should never be seen... I'd look like the fruit." I told him and nearly face palmed realising I was talking about fashion.

"Comes in a deep Purple" he said pulling another off the rack and I 'hmm'ed about it.

"Well, lets try it on." I said grabbing a blue blouse off of a rack close by and some shorts that matched both before heading to the change room.

"Wait here" I told him before retreating behind the curtain and stripped off, changing to mid form and pulled on what he suggested and the shorts first. Sadly I found I needed the next size up in top size and passed them out to him.

"Next size up please." was my simple instruction and I heard him wander off.

"Bit bigger than you expected?" a voice asked and I yelped looking down to see Sarabi's Lioness, Airas looking up at me through the curtain and I gave a sigh in relief that it wasn't Culem but I had covered up regardless "Don't worry so were we." she smirked and I grumbled.

"I've never needed to do this kind of shopping, I've been a guy for more than ninty percent of my life..." I answered her honestly and relaxed a bit "Hell I'd never even been shopping for anything for myself till this week... Alpha Smith shut down my bank account so I never got paid after..."

"There there, stay calm," she said as Xander returned with the clothes and handed them over the curtain "The death of Luna Smith hit everyone hard, she was like a sister to us but how he acted was a little too heavy handed... we heard what details we could stomach from Muffy." I nodded and pulled on the top trying to make sure it was sitting right before I opened the curtain. I gasped and nearly screamed when I saw that behind it was not only Xander but Luce, Lady Leo and Alpha Leo, Luce holding up his phone and snapped a picture.

"Not too bad," Luna Leo said "You'll certainly make heads turn, although I recommend turning the pants around, have the fly in the back, means you can have them up higher and your tail out the open fly." she pointed and smiled then blushed more nodding.

"Hmm, looks like your still healing," Alpha Leo said stepping over to see my back and help adjust the back of the tube top a little "But I bet you'd give most natural girls a run for their money." I meeped and blushed even more.

"I didn't want to go anything dressy," I started "It would look odd wearing it in male form under my normal clothes if I decided on it... that's kinda why I'm not going to get a bra." They all nodded and I held up a finger then closed the curtain, changing quickly into the blouse before opening it again.

"That's not bad, trying for colours that compliment your fur hmm?" Luce asked getting a nod in answer "Well, looks like your doing well. Sadly I need to get home, I'll meet you two at the car ok? Alpha, Luna, good to see you again." he turned and walked off with a wave and I quickly closed the curtain and changed out and into my human form and clothes.

Luna Leo did recommend I do look into a bra if I spent too much time in my mid form as we paid and wandered out. We stopped to look in the window of a jewellers at earrings and Xander mentioned he wanted to get some piercings some day before we continued on to the car. Finding Luce sitting in the front seat singing along to music and waving his fingers back and forth in time, some things flying around the car before returning to their homes as we opened the back doors.

"Home Jeeves!" Xander said jokingly as he buckled up and Luce smiled widely in his usual way revving the car.

"Warp one or two?" he asked making me roll my eyes.

"Speed limit," I cut in before Xander could answer him "I just got him I'd like to keep him in one piece."

"Spoil sport." he retorted as he started reversing the car to drive home. The drive was rather uneventful, even if Luce did turn sharply on corners just so Xander and I would crash into each other in the back of the car. I never once complained about it and neither did Xander, although Lien complained as she was tossed around each time.

Once home Luce let us go, having some of the other wolves help him unload the car we headed inside. I checked the roster while Xander took our clothes up to our room and found I had the next few days off.

"Neil," Lien spoke up next to me and I looked down to her.

"Yeah? What's up?" I asked and she whimpered softly.

"Remember when you said you wanted to wait a few days to change him?" she asked and I nodded "We're not going to have that chance."

"Why?" I asked her a little worried already starting to sense the answer already.

"It's already starting," she whimpered "We're in heat..."

"Well... Fuck," I said face palming and sighed "We're going to need to tell him..."

"I know." she responded, we turned to walk up to our bedroom. Finding him lost in the halls halfway there.

"Lost are we?" I asked and he jumped nodding "Don't worry, the place is big and many people do on their first visit. You'll learn it all eventually come, it's this way... I have something I need to tell you too." he nodded again and followed me up to our room. I helped him put the clothes away before sitting on the bed, patting it next to me for him to sit.

"What's up?" he asked as he sat next to me.

"Remember when I said that I wanted to wait a few days to do the change?" I asked and he nodded "well... we're not going to get that chance."

"Why? Don't you want me to be like you?" he asked and I gave a sigh.

"That's not it..." I started

"Then what is?" he started again and I gave him a groan.

"There is no easy way to say this... but my heat is starting" I said with a whimper "You know what that means don't you?" he shook his head and I gave another sigh.

"As of tonight... my body will begin craving for you..." I watched his face seeing a little confusion "And the longer I go without... you know... the more painful it will get for me..."

"If we...do it..." he started "What are the chances you'll get pregnant?" Lien chuckled and I smiled softly, he wasn't worried about the change, or about having sex with me, he was worried about potential kits and this warmed my heart.

"Slim, you'd need to be a were for any chance first, even if you are my mate, a human couldn't knock up a were and even then it would take a few more goes than just once," he blushed and I pulled him in close to kiss "We have a few hours at least till bedtime, when I shift... I wont be able to shift back till it's done...thankfully the mating mark should settle my heat... at least this heat anyway." he nodded and kissed me again giving a smile.

"I'll do the best I can," he chuckled softly "Till then... give me a tour of your home."

"I'd Love to." I said taking him by the hand and started to walk towards the door "We could even help Luce decorate!" We wandered out and down to find Luce in his usual place at the foot of the main stair case in his usual position, arms behind his back, shoulders up and a wide grin on his face.

"Well, if that isn't the text book definition of Creepy" Xander said and I started laughing.

"That's Luce" I said with a shrug "He once told me he wants to be exhibit A under 'Creepy' in the dictionary." he chuckled and I walked up to Luce.

"Greetings Omega Neil," he said watching me "Looking for something to do?"

"Yep, think we could see an example of your abilities while were at it?" I asked and he laughed.

"Bring me a box of tinsel, baubles and lights from the Library room," he said matter of factly "And a demonstration you shall have!" I nodded and waved Xander to follow me and rushed to the Library room. I knocked twice to see if there was anyone then opened the door.

"Grab that box there." I said pointing to the box of lights and grabbed a box of baubles. I kicked the lighter box of tinsel in front of me making it slide over the floor out to the entrance hall while Xander followed me.

"Here we go Luce! Special delivery!" I said placing the bauble box to his left, the Tinsel box to his right.

"Eeeeeexcellent, Place the lights in front of me please," he said to Xander who nodded placing it down "Now, take a step back, please remain calm and enjoy the show." he said looking at the human. We watched as Culem pounced from the second floor to land on Luce but disappeared before he landed as they shifted to mid form. Wings appearing on his back and stretched out giving a flap before folding against his back as his tail and fur grew.

"Oh wow." Xander breathed watching in awe. Luce was a sight to behold even at the worst of times, long fluffy tail, feline muzzle and sharp ice blue eyes with big feathery wings behind him that seemed to frame his elegant form.

"Deck the hall with boughs of holly," Luce started singing, planting a hand firmly on the top of the tinsel box then waved his hand upwards "Fa la la la la la la la la!" the box burst open and the contents started flying out. The long strands of thick, glistening red and green tinsel snaked out and flew past us and wormed its way around the banisters and balustrades of the staircases and landings above us.

"Tis the season to be Jolly," he pat down on the baubles box and did the same hand movement, waving upwards making it burst open "Fa la la la la la la la la!" The baubles flew up and hooking onto the tinsel every two rungs of the banisters to dangle down between them all around the large room.

"Don we now our gay apparel," he pat down on the final box now, having attracted a crowd to watch the spectacle as the powerful Sigma showboated "Fa la la la la la la la la!" Lights flew out of the box and snaked around the room before plugging themselves in and turning on, lighting up the room in a rainbow of colour. Luce took a bow once finished to applause from everyone who had stopped to watch before he changed back to his human form.

"I must say," came a heavily English accented voice from behind us and I turned to see Alpha Tango Mclaughlan and his Mate Luna Aileen Mclaughlan, she was a vixen who was born in the north of England and so, had a heavy accent.

"You sang beautifully, and the show was fabulous!" she said clapping her hands "We didn't know we were in for a show when we came round today!"

"Ah Milady," Luce said with a bow in her direction "You are too kind, I hope that once the house is gaily decorated for the season, it will meet with your approval."

"Oh Goddess," I said rolling my eyes "Don't feed his ego! We won't be able to fit in the house if you keep it up!" she laughed and Alpha Tango smiled.

"Ah Neil, you're a ray of sunshine today! A far cry from the last time I saw you," he said with a smile reminding me of the scars on my back for the second time that day "As much as we would like to stay and chat, we have some business to handle, so you'll need to excuse us." he took his wife by the hand and walked off towards one of the back rooms leaving us with Luce.

"Could you two decorate Alpha Callen's Tree?" Luce asked pulling out a packet of tinsel, lights, and a few boxes of baubles, "It's in the master bedroom, you know the one." I nodded taking them from him then took Xander's hand and headed upstairs to the master bedroom. It was one floor bellow my room and used to be Alpha Smith's room. It now belonged to Callen and he had already covered up his fathers scent and made the room warm and inviting like it had never been anything but before.

We spent a few hours in there decorating together, Luce had given us a box of baubles that had little wolves, reindeer and foxes on them. We soon stepped back to marvel at the tree and then looked to the extra tinsel we had left over and started decorating the bed, winding it around the tall posts of the four poster bed. Once we were done I grabbed a couple of logs and placed them on the fire to keep it going, adding some of Callens special mix into the flames before we cleaned up and departed.

We spent most of the day decorating the house, putting up tinsel and hanging random ornaments around the house. It was well past dinner time by time we had finished but we had eaten on the go. Almost all the trees got decorated except one, in a room that was strictly for the Community Alpha family only. The 'Family Room' as it was called was off limits and Luce was the only person who was not a member of the Smith family who was allowed in there without permission and that was to clean.

"Well, that's all the decorating done," Xander said with a smile and hugged me close "I think we should retire to our room and deal with some private business." I blushed deeply and nodded knowing exactly what he was referring to. We headed up and I shifted in the bathroom once more, walking out with the almost painful warmth of my heat between my legs.

"Before we do.." I said slowly "I need to answer one of your earlier questions" I sat on the bed and looked to him.

"Which question?" he asked having forgotten about it and I gave a sigh placing my hands on my lap and looked to him.

"The one you asked in the shops... I need to tell you the reason I'm called a Murderer."


	6. Chapter 6

"It all happened several years ago" I started slowly and twiddled my thumbs trying to hold myself together "I was just starting to get into school and Lady Luna Smith, Alpha Callen's mother, took me out to the shops to get school supplies. You would have Liked Lady Luna, she was kind, warm, loving, she didn't care I wasn't her son, she treated me as if I was... anyway. I wandered off at some point while she was looking in the window of a store... I had gotten a balloon at some stage from an earlier store and like all kids I chased after it when I dropped it, accidentally and directly into traffic... I can remember there was a loud car horn and screeching of tires... and I was directly in the path of a taxi." I was starting to shake a little, tears starting to well in my eyes as I remembered it.

 

"Shh, shh, its ok, breath Neil." he said and placed his hand on mine and gently rubbed trying to comfort me.

 

"I...I was grabbed in a blink but there was still the expected impact..." I said slowly after gathering myself a little and took a shaky breath "She had seen me and managed to grab me and protected me from the impact with the car. we flew through the air and landed a few feet away, she protected me from that part too... when I looked up... she was laying there... bleeding heavily... she looked at me and said... the last words from the woman I saw as my mother... whom I loved like no other... 'You're ok... that's good' and then she was gone..." I was crying openly now, my heat long forgotten as I recounted the story that started my painful years of torture.

 

"So that is why everyone seems to have a grudge against you?" He asked and I nodded wiping the tears from my eyes and face.

 

"S...so you see I'm a murderer... I killed her," I sobbed softly "I got away with barely a scratch and in the process I killed one of the most loved women in the community! All for a balloon! I... I will understand if yo...you don't want to be with me any more... No one else I know would want to be with me." I felt Lien rage inside me angrily at this statement, but I had to be honest with my feelings. I yelped when I was suddenly slapped, Xander having slapped me as hard as he could bear to muster without injuring me.

 

"What are you talking About!?" he asked angrily grabbing my shoulders and shaking me a bit leaving me looking at him like a dear in the headlights of a car "A Murderer what bullshit! It was an accident! She did what any mother would do! What would she think if she could see you now? She would be so upset that, here you are, with your mate who loves you and in heat and your mourning her loss and not thanking her for giving you a chance to find the same happiness in life that she did!" he leaned over and wiped my face dry before giving me a kiss to the cheek he slapped. I couldn't help but start to smile with his soft treatment of me, my tail picking up a bit of a wag.

 

"So stop crying, smile and lay down with me, show me that she sacrificed herself for a life that was worth it, filled with the same bright light she saw in you then and i see in you now." he kissed me again holding it with me and pulled me down to lay on the bed. His tongue pushed into my muzzle and I let it in, my own rubbing and wrapping around his. I gave a moan into his mouth as he placed a hand on my hip and pulled to hold me firmly against him.

 

I rolled so he was on top of me and gave a shudder as he pressed his hands against my breasts to push himself up gently to break the kiss and he smirked.

 

"Oh, does the sexy vixen like that?" he asked chuckling as he started teasing one of my nipples making me moan out and nod squirming a little. His other hand lowered over my belly to rub just above my crotch, his nails raking through my soft pubic fur "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said heat." came the simple remark as he lowered his hand more, his fingers brushing over the lips of my virgin sex.

 

"Ohh... D...don't tease," I whimpered and squirmed as he traced his fingers around the lips of my burning wet snatch feeling Lien pushing forward "P...Please, Mate..." he chuckled and kissed me again and shifted a little on top of me positioning his cock over my waiting womanhood.

 

"How Badly?" he asked teasingly and I gave a growl grabbing his hips and pulled him down, giving a yelp as he broke through my virginity and sank into me till he was balls deep. We both moaned out against each other and he stayed hilted for now buried inside me. We breathed, trying to take it all in before he started moving, slowly pulling out of me.

 

"Ohh...s...so tight" he moaned out getting all the way till only his head was in before he pushed back in making us both give a loud groan as he yet again hilted. I wrapped my arms around him and breathed against his shoulder feeling him start to develop a rhythm. Panting, moaning and groaning I started to claw at his back as he picked up the pace.

 

"Harder... oh goddess harder!" I demanded and he obliged, slowing down a little but thrust harder making us rock as he pistoned, his balls slapping against me. I tried to clench down around him, unsure if I was doing it right till I heard him moan out loudly in appreciation of my sudden increase of tightness. He shifted to hold himself up with his arms, thus allowing him to increase in speed and force.

 

"N...Not going to last much longer" he breathed out "Wh... what do I.." I grabbed him and pulled him down so his mouth was against the curve of my neck on the right side and I was the same on his.

 

"B...Bite here" I panted and whimpered softly "Ohhh g...god Xander... I love you!" there was only a little more before he pushed in hard and bit down. As I felt this him bite me, I bit down as well, the act of making the mating mark pushing us both over the edge and I orgasmed as he did, his hot seed shooting deep into me. Lien cried out in joy inside of me as in that moment, her opposite was born inside of Xander.

 

We lay together, panting and moaning against the others neck now in a deeper connection that either of us ever thought possible. a strong, invisible emotional bond tying us together. After a while, he eventually rolled off of me and I smiled giving him a kiss. He was drifting in and out of conciousness, the change already taking a toll on him and he soon dropped off. I smiled and watched him sleep for a little before getting up to clean myself up a bit.

 

I had a shower, not bothering to shift form, letting the warm waters cascade over my fur and relax me it was a rare pleasure to have, for me anyway. My heat, barely even started had ended as soon as we made the mark on each other and I smiled rubbing over where the currently invisible mark would soon be replaced by a familiar bite mark. Hopefully by Xanders fox when he was finished with his change.

 

When I walked back out I saw him writhing on the bed in distress. I blinked a little surprised to see he was concious and ran to him shaking him softly.

 

"Xander? Xander?! What's wrong?" I asked and he looked up at me with a groan.

 

"H...Help" he whimpered "I... C...Can't... Can't..." he groaned seeming to be struggling for breath. I whimpered and tried to think of what to do, only one thing coming to mind.

 

"I'll be back!" I said and bolted out the door not caring I was in mid form, freshly mated and naked. I ran down the halls soon barrelling into Beta Anders and Jeb, crashing to the floor as it was like hitting a black, furry brick wall.

 

"Woh Woh! Neil!?" Anders asked looking down at me "Where's the fire? Well in the fireplaces I suppose but still..."

 

"And your clothes?" Jeb asked raising an eyebrow although he clearly wasn't objecting to the view.

 

"Beta Anders! I...I... I need your mate!" I said breathlessly looking at him desperately "Please its an emergency!" he looked at me curiously then pulled out his mobile and dialled placing it to his ear.

 

"Hey honey... Yes I know your at work, this isn't for me, an emergency apparently, Here speak to her yourself." he handed the phone over and I took it holding it to my ear.

 

"Hello? To whom do I owe this call?" she asked curiously.

 

"Doc! I...I need help!" I answered mid whimper still slightly panicked.

 

"Neil? What is it? Did your back open?" she asked and I shook my head even though I knew she couldn't see me.

 

"No.. no It...it's Xander... my mate," I looked to Anders and motioned for him to follow before making my way quickly back to my bedroom "He can't seem to be able to breath...I... I don't..."

 

"Ok, ok, calm down... did you two..." she asked and I whimpered softly.

 

"Yes." I answered her simply as I burst into the bedroom, he was on the bed still writhing and groaning struggling to draw in deep breaths and the two Betas looked worried once they realised what was going on.

 

"Ok, tell me have his eyes changed?" she asked and I needed Jeb to hold Xander still while I opened his eye to look. Looking back were the bright golden orange eyes with the distinctive slit of a fox filled with desperation and fear.

 

"Yes... they're so..." I started to find myself lost in them but Beta Anders gave my tail a tug getting me back on track with a yip.

 

"Ok... Listen carefully, this is what I want you to do and Lien will need to help," she started "While in mid form, bite the mark you gave him, firmly and hold on tight, hold him down if need be. Once you have bitten him, Lien needs to connect with his fox, get a hold of it and don't let go, either of you, as the next part will hurt. Once she has him Neil, Change back to human, this will separate them." I nodded and gave a whimper thinking about being exposed but shrugged it off, my mate needed me more than I needed to cover up.

 

I handed Anders his phone before I positioned myself over him, covering us with the sheets so we had a little bit of decency.

 

"Here goes nothing." I muttered and bit down firmly. He cried out loudly in pain and started to thrash trying to dislodge me but I held onto him as best I could. It took a few moments for him to settle and I waited for Lien to say she was ready.

 

"Got him!" came her voice and I started the shift back to human form. When she said it would be painful she wasn't wrong. It felt like I was cutting off a limb with a dull wooden spoon. Even so I wasn't put off and forced it to progress. It took longer than it usually did and I was soon laying on the bed next to him on my stomach as a human. He was breathing easily and calmly and a moment later I heard the familiar whimpering of Lien and turned to see her curled up on the sheets with another fox. I smiled seeing him sleeping soundly with her and I picked them both up carefully then shifted back to mid form before anyone could see my front and sat him on my lap petting him gently.

 

"There honey?" Anders asked into the phone finally getting his senses back "Yep it's done, they did fantastically... Ok I'll let them know... yarp, yarp, Love you too, bye." he hung up pocketing the phone and looked over to us with a sigh.

 

"I need to inform Callen of this," he said simply "She wanted me to tell you two things, One, she is proud of you for that, what you just pulled off is anything but easy and two, What happened is a common thing when having a human mate of the opposite gender. Something about their animal gets confused when you... well, while one of you is in mid form so it thinks its already in mid form when it appears and that causes problems." I nodded and smiled to him.

 

"Thank you Beta," I said with a smile "I'm guessing she wants us to come in for a check up?" he chuckled and nodded.

 

"Spot on," he said with a chuckle "And lets not tell her you were running through the halls in only your fur ok? I'd never hear the end of it." I chuckled with him and nodded.

 

"Ok, I'm sorry I worried you and took you away from what you were doing for my problems. Can I have some privacy with my mate now?" I asked looking up at them "Please?" Anders nodded and patted Jeb on the shoulder and escorted him out, closing the door behind him as they left. I smiled looking down to the fox on my lap and pet him gently waiting patiently for my mate to awaken.

 

It was an hour later that he woke up, groaning softly and looked up at me.

 

"Hey there," I said with a smile "Welcome back." he groaned and rubbed his face then looked at his hand.

 

"I...I didn't change?" he asked looking at it then up to me again "What happened? I thought I was supposed to..." I sighed and pointed down to my lap where his fox was laying stopping him mid sentence.

 

"You did change," I said with a soft chuckle "You just... got stuck is all. He's a little tired at the moment, it took a lot out of all of us. I think for now don't go trying to shift ok?" he nodded and I wagged my tail. I got up slowly and laid the fox down in my basket by the fire before returning to the bed and pulled Xander close to me.

 

"Lets get back to sleep my mate," I said softly to him and kissed his cheek "Tomorrow is a big day for us. The start of our new lives together." he nodded and cuddled into my chest resting his face between my cleavage and I gave a soft chuckle and shook my head as he dozed off.

 

"Men." I thought with a smile and soon followed him into the land of nod.

 

I awoke, surprisingly to an empty bed. I groaned and rolled over and reached out expecting to find him only to hear a chuckle.

 

"Neil, we have company." I heard Xander call and I slowly sat up and look around seeing Shelly, Beta Anders, Alpha Callen and a stranger in the room. Shelly and Xander were in human form and so was the stranger, while everyone else was in mid form. The stranger was sitting on Alpha Callen's lap watching Xander play with his fox on the floor and I noticed he had his leg in a cast.

 

"Ah, morning sleepy head!" Shelly said with a chuckle and helped me sit up "We let you sleep." Xander threw me my blouse and I pulled it on along with a pair of pants under the covers.

 

"What do we owe the pleasure of the visit to?" I asked looking to Alpha Callen who smiled.

 

"I wished to bring my Mate to meet yours," he said smiling and pet the stranger on the back "Ruban, this is Omega Neil or preferably Neil, Neil, this is my human mate, Ruban." he smiled motioning over towards me and I smiled wagging my tail and gave a wave.

 

"Hi there, Nice to meet you," I said with a smile "If you wanted to introduce him to the only other human, your a little late, that was dealt with last night." Callen chuckled and nodded.

 

"So I heard, have a little incident did we?" Callen asked and I nodded blushing a little remembering the previous nights events and my naked running through the pack house.

 

"Isn't Neil a guys name?" his mate, Luna Ruban asked and I dropped my ears and blushed.

 

"Ah yes, Neil has a... Unique condition," Callen said with a chuckle "Care to show him?" he asked looking to me and I gave a sigh standing and nodded grabbing some of my male clothes and headed into the bathroom. Once the door was close I shifted, changing to human form and got into my other clothes before wandering back out, Lien having already run out to play with Xander.

 

"And there you have it," Callen said with a chuckle to his mates surprised expression "Only Were in history who has a gender opposite animal to their human." I blushed and watched as Lien ran over to nuzzle and rub against Xander's fox.

 

"I'm guessing your here for his first shift right Doc?" I asked looking to Shelly who nodded.

 

"Yep, need to make sure everything is ok, especially after last night." she answered and Callen slowly stood lifting Ruban as he did.

 

"We will give you some privacy, this tends to be a... special occasion." he said with a chuckle slowly walking out with Ruban in his arms, Anders following him.

 

"Ok... so how do I do this?" Xander asked and I wiggled my finger for Lien to run over.

 

"Quite simple," Shelly said "You'll need to strip first for the first time but just think of what form you want to be, and boom, it'll happen. May take a while the first time, so be patient with it." he nodded and closed his eyes before stripping down. More than just myself and Xander blushing at the fact he was naked. We watched him, his fox vanishing and within a few seconds he started sprouting fur.

 

His body twisted and contorted a bit as usual, gaining some mass here and there, muzzle and tail growing and ears moving till he was finished changing and eventually in his place sat a reasonably muscled Anthro fox. He had almost glowing orange fur, a cute nose, impressive package and a joyful wag in his tail.

 

"Well there we go." Shelly said with a smile and gave me a soft push on the shoulder to wander over to him. I knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to open his eyes and look up at me, those same golden orange eyes from last night looking at me again.

 

"MATE!" he suddenly called and Jumped at me making me yipe and fall backwards as he collapsed on top of me, rubbing his face against my chest and neck like an over eager puppy.

 

"Yes yes I'm your Mate, back up a bit hun," I said giving him a light push and he retreated off of me "Now first things first... What's you Name?" it was a simple question. Normally during the first shift, our animal is in control, by second shift we have control over them unless it's a full moon.

 

"Randy." came the answer and Sally snorted a giggle.

 

"Wow, Almost suits him," she said with a chuckle "Ok Randy, up on the bed, I need to give you a once over to make sure everything is where it should be." he nodded and made his way over, hopping up onto the bed and laid down on his back. His eyes never left me and his tail continued its enthusiastic wag.

 

She pulled on gloves and wandered over then started poking and prodding. Pulling his lips back to inspect his teeth, looking inside his ears, groping his arms, hands, digitigrade legs and feet to see if anything was out of place. She rubbed his chest and belly finding he was a little more animalistic than usual and had six nipples down his torso. She managed to get a hold of his tail to check its length and for anything out of the ordinary and finally his crotch. Watching her manhandle his package had me a little irritable but I knew she was checking for anything missing or anything out of the ordinary.

 

Cancer was rare in our kind but having been a human, sometimes the changed caused side effects. it wasn't completely unheard of for women to develop breast cancer or some to get something as simple as skin cancer due to the fur developing. The tumours that formed were almost always benign but could still be dangerous to our health.

 

"Even after last nights events," she said slowly writing a few things down on her clip board "I expected something but no. He is in perfect health, you got yourself quite a catch here just like I did in tall dark and handsome! Such lovely fur too, nice and soft mirrors your own fur Neil." she smiled and pat me on the shoulder before walking to the door.

 

"Play nice you two! I need to go enter his details into the Database and get him registered." she called and walked out leaving me a little curious as to what she had been expecting to find but I shrugged it off then turned back to Randy and smiled Liens Tail wagging when he took notice of us again.

 

"Ok, as much as I'd love to have you live up to your name, can you change back for me?" he gave a whimper then nodded reverting to the naked human I had grown to love.

 

"Wow... that was..." He started and was silenced by a yip from the fox that was sitting in his lap.

 

"You two did great," I praised kissing Xander's forehead and gently pet Randy's head "There are a few rules you two need to know though ok? You can use Mid form around the Pack House but keep pants on at least, Full form can be used as well but not everyone is accepting of it, so you might find some people don't open the doors for you. If you go outside, only human form until your in the forest. You'll know certain areas by instinct, Randy should already be able to smell the scent markers for the hunting grounds and off limits areas." I pet the foxes head making them both chuckle. There was a loud gurgle and I chuckled myself.

 

"Sounds like you two are hungry, lets go get some breakfast!" I said and checked the clock "Then sadly, I must be off to school, its a half day though, end of year and all, so I'll be back just after lunch time ok? You can keep Luce company, there's a full moon tonight, so you two will get to come on the full moon hunt with the pack."

 

"Full moon hunt?" Xander asked as we made our way to the door, our foxes bounding around us happily .

 

"Oh yes, happens on nights of a full moon," I smiled and clapped my hands "Tonight is the night that our animals get main control. we go on a big hunt as a pack in the hunting grounds as a wolf pack... well now with two foxes mixed in. Every Were family does it, the felines usually fish and the bears usually hunt for fruits and berries, while the herbivores mow the lawns... literally, sometimes the flowerbeds too." we both chuckled as we entered the dining room and grabbed some breakfast.

 

"The next night, so tomorrow, there is a big feast that will be held in the back yard of the Pack House, so here. Where we cook up all the meats we catch and vegetables that are gotten for the herbivores from our farms and the whole community gets together." I smiled and sat with him to eat "We usually catch a few deer and there are some rabbits and lots of fish and so on."

 

"And booze!" a bear opposite us said as he sat obviously having come in to do some work around the house so was entitled to some food.

 

"Oh yeah and booze... there is a lot of booze," I chuckled softly "The bears and bulls usually brew it, remember to ask for the weak stuff if you do go for some." Xander looked at me curiously.

 

"Why weak?" he asked simply.

 

"Because anything else will send you through inebriated and out the other side," I told him with a chuckle "I don't want you to die that quickly."

 

"It's not that bad," the bear protested and I gave a chuckle and eyed him "Ok fine I'll agree with you there, stick to the punch."

 

"That's usually spiked anyway, Vodka being the usual culprit, although we do keep an eye on the cubs drink supply." Beta Anders said walking past us from behind. I chuckled and nodded then checked the time.

 

"Well I gotta be off," I said standing and gave him a kiss on the cheek "I'll see you in a few hours." I hoped he would be ok but at the same time knew that Luce would keep an eye on him and the pack house was one of the safest places in the community despite my reputation.

 

My trip to school was the same dull walk as always and I was mildly surprised not to find my usual waiting party waiting for me. I managed to hand in all my school work without running into the lions at any stage, That was till lunch time when I was preparing to head home.

 

"Finally! There you are!" I heard Simba's usual voice behind me and I sighed before I turned to face him and the rest of them. We were up at the top of the stair well to the second floor, the area was a large landing with the stairs descending in the empty void over a railing that was there to prevent anyone falling. It was well lit with large windows and was usually a quite area.

 

"Yes Simba?" I asked and yelped as I was suddenly grabbed by the collar of my shirt and pushed against the railing.

 

"That's SIR to you Runt!" he said growling "You think that just because Alpha Callen made that pretty speech that you would be safe?" he continued to push me forcibly and I choked a bit trying not to be pushed over the railing.

 

"I still owe you for that punishment we got because of you!" he said angrily and there was a click "So here it is!" I gave a louder yelp as there was a sharp stab to my lower belly making me lose focus before he gave a hard push and I screamed as I fell over the rail.

 

"NEIL!" Lien called and started racing down the stairs after me. My hip impacted the railing of the stairs on the way down followed by my shoulder on the hard flood below, both breaking on impact. I screamed loudly and wheezed with the shear force of the impact and pain. Lien raced to my side and I watched as they all laughed and walked off leaving me bloody and broken on the floor of the school building.

 

"Neil!? Neil!? We need to shift!" Lien nudged me and I groaned. I rolled over onto my stomach and using my one good arm and leg, managed to crawl to the bathrooms. In the privacy of a cubical I shifted letting Lien heal my injuries. Sadly the journey from the landing site to the bathroom had caused the breaks to shift so they set incorrectly but at least they were in place and usable.

 

"We need to tell Callen" Lien said once we reverted to human and I shook my head "Neil this is Serious this time! He could have killed us!"

 

"Lien... You know that even if we told him, Simba would only retaliate worse." she growled softly before she grumbled admitting defeat on that one "C'mon, lets head home, I'm sure Randy and Xander are eager to see us and we have hunt tonight, that is at least something to look forward to!" she perked up and wagged her tail at the mentioning of our mate and followed me out.

 

Luckily I managed to get home and shift to mid form and into the tube top before I encountered Xander and Luce. They were in the library and Luce was teaching him about the races he never knew existed.

 

"Hey there!" I said as I approached them "Sorry I'm back a little later than I wanted to be, few problems popped up." I eyed Luce silently trying to tell him not to probe and thankfully he got the hint.

 

"It's ok," Xander said with a smile "He was just giving me a crash course on your world." I nodded and chuckled kissing him on the top of the head.

 

"Well the hunt is in an hour or so, we best get ready." I said "Luce will you be..."

 

"I will be at my usual post," he responded before I could finish my question "I will be guarding the Cubs as closely as a dragon guards its horde" we nodded and I guided Xander up to our room to change into full form in preparation for the event. Till then, we curled up together on the bed, kissing and nuzzling each others faces.


	7. Chapter 7

As the moon came up, Xander and I were pushed to the back of our minds, letting Lien and Randy take over. We wandered out to the back yard where the feast would be the next night, finding it already full of wolves in mid or full form waiting for Alpha Callen to come out to begin the hunt.

After a few minutes the white wolf appeared, still human and carrying his mate casually and carefully like he was a fragile treasure. Top level ranks, Alpha's and Beta's had special training to be able to hold off the shift if needed and he seemed to be exercising it right now for some reason.

"Before I shift, Endars and Yelas, come forth please!" he called out and Beta Anders, now as his wolf Endars and his mate walked forward. Callen smiled down at them once they were infront of him "I am requesting you carry my mate Endars, at least until we find the prey. Yelas, I know you may be upset that you cannot run fully free with your mate but I wouldn't put him in the care of anyone else." she nodded and he smiled placing the human on the black wolf's back.

"Hold tight, but don't fear, he wont drop you," he told him softly and gave him a kiss "Last thing, Lien and her mate, Xander, Front and centre please!" we walked forward slowly from the back shifting to mid form on the way. I could feel the eyes of everyone else on me as usual and Alpha gave a soft sigh.

"I...I am sorry to Correct you Alpha," Randy spoke up getting Alpha's attention, he was so timid, fearing that he might lash out at him, his tail was curled up between his legs and his ears back but I knew Callen and Lacen wouldn't hurt him "But we have not met yet... I am Xander's Fox, Randy." Alpha gave a hearty chuckle and gave him a pat on the head.

"Fear not, neither of you are in trouble. How would I have known your name if you never told me?" he asked with a smile. Randy's tail then started to pick up a wag at the light praise "When we find the kill, you two will guard Ruban, ok? You are NOT to engage if we are attacked by rogues. You two are the fastest members of our pack, you are to bring him back here, understand?"

"Yes Alpha." Randy responded, and we both nodded.

"As for the rest of you," he said looking out to the gathered pack "Don't think I didn't see, tomorrow, I want you and you know who you are, to come see me in my office... DON'T make me hunt you down... you wont like the ramifications." he gave a soft menacing growl and we backed down a little before he then stripped and changed to wolf form, Randy and I following suit and changing to our full foxes.

It felt so good to run with the pack as a whole, especially with randy by my side. We stayed near the centre of the group matching our pace with theirs so we wouldn't out-run them. The grass bellow our paws, the trees whizzing past, the moon in the sky and my new mate so close, I was in heaven even with Lien in control.

We all ran and tracked for about twenty minutes to half an hour until we found the scent of a deer heard. Our direction changed quickly like a school of fish and we headed in it's direction till they were in view. Beta Ruban stopped by a large tree close by and let Ruban down. I trotted over and laid down on his lap, letting the human pet me gently and Randy shifted to mid form to stand over him, keeping a watchful eye out.

We watched as they started the assault on the family of deer. None of them were Weres as all herbivore Weres stay strictly out of the hunting grounds. There was something oddly exhilarating about being a fox in a family of wolves and seeing them hunt. I nuzzled gently against Luna Ruban's hand as he pet me making him give a soft chuckle and start scratching between my ears.

It was at the point my leg was starting to kick that a wolf lunged at Alpha Lacen, missing him by a hairs breath. Rogues, damn it they always try to use the full moon as a means of attacking a pack. It's never succeeded yet but they always try regardless.

"RUN!" Alpha Lacen barked at us and I jumped off of Ruban's lap, shifted to mid form, picked him up and was gone in a shot, Randy following quickly behind me. There were about three rogues as far as I could tell in hot pursuit but I was faster than they were and we quickly made ground away from them.

But carrying Ruban was starting to wear me down. I wasn't built to carry him and run at the same time, especially seeing as my back was still healing and my hip and shoulder were both recently damaged. I stopped and handed him off to Randy getting a confused look from both of them.

"GO!" I told them sternly "I will buy you some time!"

"Lien, no, we can..." Randy started but I growled at him to silence his protests.

"I SAID GO!" I snapped "I can slow them down, at least I know how to fight off werewolves, you don't. Luna Ruban is more important right now, GO!" he grumbled a little seeming to be able to detect my lie about knowing how to fend the wolves off but then turned and started running.

"Ok Neil... I know you don't want to do this but I need you with me for this but lets do this for them! For Randy, for Xander, for Alpha and for Luna Ruban!" we turned to face the direction they were coming from "Right you mongrels, time to dance!" I said loudly and braced myself against the oncoming wolves. As one lunged at me I placed both hands on his head and used it like a pivot point, using what strength I had and flipped over him, forcing him to the ground. Just as I landed I ducked as a wolf lunged at me from the side and I brought my claws up cutting along his belly with them.

My ear twitched as another tried rushing low at me and I spun round kicking him in the face making it yelp and roll away from me. They weren't down long and all three growled at me quickly getting to their feet.

"Don't expect me to be some weak female fox!" I growled out "You interrupted my first night out with my mate, and I have ten years of anger and anguish to dish out to you! I won't be responsible for the loss of another Luna!" One lunged at me again and using all the strength I could muster and putting all the years of anger, frustration and torment I had been dealt behind it as I punched him. Landing a blow to the sternum I broke most of the ribs connected to it in the process. It Yelped and rolled to the ground to one side where it seemed to focus on trying to cope with its injuries. Another leapt at me from the side and I dropped and kicked up with both feet, hitting him in the crotch and stomach sending him flying a few feet away. I got back to my feet looking for the other one when I was tackled from behind and pinned to the ground with loud angry snarling in my ear.

They didn't waste any time and I was set upon quickly by all of them and I curled up to try to protect my vital areas. My left ear was grabbed by teeth and pulled roughly tearing part of it off, a deep scratch over my eye on the same side, one charged and managed to break a few ribs and my left arm was practically shattered by their assault.

"Enough, we don't have time for this trash!" one of them said backing away and snarling, I was bleeding badly, covered in scratches and bites "That human Luna is more important!" as a group they then turned and ran off in pursuit of Randy and Ruban.

"No!" I wheezed out "Randy!" I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, I started to claw at the ground trying to follow them towards the pack house.

"So this is it?" I thought to Neil while whimpering out in pain as I continued to try to drag us along "I'm going to die tonight... I just got my mate, I haven't had puppies, I haven't even really had a chance to live. My final act on this cruel world is to defy Alpha's orders and die alone, in pain, as we always seem to be." We continued our futile effort, every drag of my body causing me to lose breath and struggle to breathe as my broken ribs pushed against my lungs.

A few minutes later I had run out of strength to continue, I was struggling for breath and I heard running of someone approaching me quickly somehow over my whimpering and wheezing. Was it more rogues? If it was, let them end me quickly... I was so tired of suffering.

"Oh god... it's... Lien!" I heard and then heard running paws over to me and was gently rolled him onto my back "Lien! What happened!? Speak to me!" It was Alpha Lacen, Alpha had me in his arms... I wouldn't be alone.

"A...Alpha..." I gasped out trying to draw more breath. I looked up with my one good eye, Ares one of the top warwolves, Yelas, Lacen, Endars the whole alpha party.

"Alpha... This can't be Lien... it doesn't have the umm...right plumbing..." Ares stuttered as he spoke.

"You've never seen Lien have you?" Yelas asked flatly "The only Were known with the opposite gender of his animal."

"That's why he's bullied so much," Endars said softly and gave Yelas a gentle nudge towards me to help "It, like his mate, is something beyond his control. If the pack put the same effort into training as they did insulting and harassing him, this never would have happened!"

"Lien, what happened?" Alpha Lacen asked and I wheezed, looking up at him.

"I...I'm sorry Alpha... I disobeyed your orders." I gasped out "I...I gave Ruban to R...Randy and tried to... to fight them off... to delay th...them even for a few minutes."

"Shh, try to breathe evenly," Yelas said checking me over poking at my chest making me recoil in pain "And do NOT go to sleep!" I nodded a little and then looked back up at the white wolf holding me knowing I was getting blood all over that beautiful snow white fur.

"I...I'm sorry we...we disobeyed you A...Alpha," I said and started to tear up, my eyes going damp with tears of worry. Disobeying an Alpha was a severe thing and I was worried he would target Randy for going along with my stupid plan "P...please don't p...punish Randy, it w...was my idea."

"Hush, no one is going to be punished," he said to try to calm me I noticed his tail wagged a little when I physically relaxed in his arms. Good, Randy was going to be ok, that eased the worry in my heart "You did Exactly what I would expect any member of my pack to do, you sacrificed yourself to save others, I'm proud of you!"

"Th...Thank you Alpha." I responded. If had the energy, I would have been wagging my tail a mile a minute at the moment at his praise.

"Is it safe to move her?" he asked Yelas who nodded and licked her nose subconsciously.

"Safer than leaving her here," she responded wiping blood away from my eye before checking it then motioned Endars over "You carry her but gently, one wrong move and one of her ribs could puncture a lung." he nodded and lifted me slowly and gently, I tried not to cry out in pain as he did, my damaged arm falling limply and uselessly to my side causing me great pain. Yelas draped my shattered arm over my chest before Endars rolled me in his grip so I was pressed to his chest where I wouldn't move as much or slip as he ran.

"Alpha... what's that?"Ares asked pointing to something in the sky. we turned to look, it was more than likely one of the Avian Weres to check for rogues or notify that that some had been spotted.

"Possibly a bir... GET DOWN!" Lacen realised almost too late that they were in fact, three wolves. Everyone flopped to the floor, Endars falling to his back to stop from injuring me. Rather than flying at us, they flew just barely over our ears and collided with the trees behind us, impacting with a sickening crack. "That was close... I am going to neuter that Sigma with the dull side of a spoon..."

"H...he would p...probably like that" I groaned out softly and Endars chuckled bellow me.

Our trip from then on was... to say the least entertaining. To say the most it was Mortifying! Every few moments, more rogues would fly over our heads and disappear into the Forrest behind us. It was shocking the shear amount of them that vanished into the tree line with a distant 'thump'. I was glad that I wasn't where I had been found, one could have landed on me and it would have been my end.

When finally we got to the pack house, Luce was standing in front of the house in his full Hybrid glory. A six foot tall snow leopard, with a long thick tail wagging slowly behind him was still impressive even if I had seen it before. He still had his grin but now it seemed more... horrifying due to all his sharp feline teeth. Four large feathery wings sprouted from his back, the bottom set a little smaller than the top set. Only his teeth and eyes glowed from his face, the rest seeming to suck in the darkness around him making them seem brighter. Despite his ever-present smile he did not look pleased.

"Ah Alpha you have returned, I have kept the house safe just as you instructed me to, and will continue so till the night is over," he said as we approached and I could tell Alpha was irritated with him "Luna and Randy await you inside. They are in the lounge. I have placed blankets over the furniture and gotten the medical supplies ready, Randy is preparing warm water and wash cloths."

"Thank you Culem." he said waving for us to head inside.

"I do hope Omega Lien can be helped." he said, his voice portraying genuine concern. I was carried into the lounge room and laid down on the largest sofa, Randy and Yelas ran to my side. Endars pulled Randy away dragging him over to Ruban who started to try to comfort him, while I laid on the towel covered couch being stitched back together by Shelly and Yelas's skillful hands with Ares acting as her assistant.

Yelas had seemed to get more and more irritated as she worked on me. Her expert hands finding everything Neil and I had tried to keep hidden. She was silent and never questioned and in return I remained silent except the occasional whimper. When I eventually did look up, I watched as Lacen walk over to Randy to try to help comfort him.

"Alpha!" Shelly finally piped up "I don't want to tell you this..." she looked up at him and he looked back at her a little irritably.

"And I don't think I want to hear it." He retorted and she took his hand pressing it to my recently repaired hip and I knew that he could tell something wasn't right by the way his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Feel that?" she said softly "The slight deviation from norm, a break, and a damn recent one." I looked away from him not wanting to break Neil's trust in me and tell them everything despite the fact I wanted to.

"Could it be..." Alpha started wanting to come up with an excuse and she cut him off by moving his hand again, this time to an unbroken rib, then to my left shoulder, each time saying 'Here, and here, and here, and here'.

"Lacen, this is not a training accident, and it's DEFINITELY been done since you took over as Alpha!" she said firmly "And some of these are life threatening! I found stab scars on his back! He NEVER came to me for any of these! This has gone beyond bullying! This is torture!" I looked up to see him swallow drily.

"Did you know?" he asked turning to Randy after seeing the trapped look in my eyes and he simply shook his head.

"He had come home with bruises," he answered truthfully with soft sobs "He always said he had tripped down the stairs or run into a door... I...I never saw..." Alpha put his hand up to still him, knowing that continuing would lead to more tears. Ruban pulled the large fox close into a hug letting him cry in his chest while he scratched between the hybrids shoulder blades.

"Callen, I can't overlook this, there is no way!" Shelly growled "This must stop! If you need to torture a few pack members, then so god damn be it!"

He gave a deep sigh and nodded knowing she would go to the council if she needed to. "Culem! Get in here now!" He called out, the male walking in a moment later still in his hybrid form.

"Yes Callen? Is everything ok with Neil and Lien?" he asked. It was touching that he was concerned but he was possibly my closest and maybe only friend and the ass knew it.

"Shut the doors and sound proof the room." he rubbed the bridge of his muzzle obviously getting irritated. The Sigma nodded, snapping his fingers; the doors slammed shut and locked.

"Done, now what is wrong?" he asked.

"I'm lifting restriction D-17 for a special project," he said looking up at him. D-17 was a special restriction that prevented Luce and Culem from deep mind reading. Deep mind reading was the same as what he occasionally did on a passive basis but he could go deep enough to be able to pull everything out of you mind, all the way to baby memories. It was a big restriction as with his power, Luce could read anybodies mind from anywhere in town if he wanted "I know this is a breach of privacy but it needs to be done. Scan Neil's memories... you know what to look for, I want a list of everyone responsible!"

"When do you want it by?" he clarified obviously uncomfortable with the task he had to perform. He hated mind reading, Luce was a private person and respected peoples boundaries. He understood better than anyone why some secrets had to remain just that, secret.

"Before the feast," Alpha retorted sharply "You have twenty hours to get my dirt, then the restriction is active again." Culem nodded and his eyes seemed to flash slightly.

"You shall have it,... and it will take two hours as long as he does not resist." his smile was restored immediately and then walked out, returning to his guard duty.

"God I hope this won't make me like my father." Alpha mumbled to himself turning his attention back to me. At this point Luce wasn't reading my mind yet, instead he was telepathically talking to me while he let Culem control his body.

"It's out Neil, I did warn you that this would happen." he informed me, albeit regretfully and I sighed internally.

"I know, I guess I was stupid to think it wouldn't come out..." I responded "You want names right?"

"You heard Alpha, this is a serious thing, I need Everything," he answered me "You saw what I did to his father during that council meeting, all the paperwork I had on him, so you know what I want."

"Fine... I guess I have no choice, with D-17 lifted you'll find it anyway... Lien keep control our body till tomorrow," I said with a grumble "Names, Simba Leo, Nala Leo, Zira Leo, Sarafina Leo, and Kovu Leo. The stab wounds aren't overly old... one being only a few hours, Simba has a flick knife with a silver blade. The broken bones were from today at school when I went in to hand in my assignments... Simba pushed me over the stair railing."

"I guess you weren't totally lying to Xander and Randy then." he responded mentioning the excuse I had given to our mate of falling down the stairs.

The pack arrived as I was telling him more. It took an hour in all to tell him everything, even the scars on my chest and belly. He told me while I slept he would get the dates and images he needed from my subconscious. As the pack walked in Callen personally carried me to my bedroom, having Randy take Ruban to his. He placed me down gently on the bed. As far as he knew I was out cold and resting but Lien and I were listening to him.

"Sleep, Neil," he said gently stroking my head between my ears "Well fix this, I swear it." He continued to pet me for a moment but he smiled, ears twitching when Randy walked into the room, he would be irritated with Callen being so close to me but he was the Alpha, Randy knew he meant no harm.

"He is sleeping comfortably," he said and stood up "You're lucky you have him... he'll be a perfect mate."

"Thank you, Alpha." he responded and Callen chuckled. He started to head downstairs, stopping to give Randy a tight hug before he passed.

"Its Callen, You two have EARNED the right to not call me Alpha." he said into his ear and walked on past, closing the door behind him.

"Neil... I wish you had told me." Randy mumbled walking over and got into bed with me curling up against me.

I woke in the afternoon without Xander still with me. Alpha Callen was standing over me looking upset, and it was at that point I realised Lien was sitting in her basket looking ashamed and I was uncovered to my crotch. Xander standing by the window watching. I gave a yipe and moved to cover myself only to be stopped by Alpha Callen, a large warm hand laying over my chest to keep me still.

"You are SO lucky the Council and I are not going to punish you Neil." he scolded and I whimpered softly trying to sink into the pillows on the bed "Simba already did that. How DARE you not tell me about this! You know the laws as well as anyone else I thought YOU of all people would tell me about this!" he pulled something out of his pocket and dropped it on the sheets. I could smell Simba all over it as well as my own blood and didn't need to touch it to know it was the knife.

"I'm sorry Alpha," I whimpered "Can I... talk openly and honestly? Please?" he sighed and nodded.

"You have earned that much at least," he said pulling a chair over to sit next to me "But no more lies Neil." I nodded in return and sighed a little.

"Alpha... after the trip to the school to get my work when I was injured... you should know WHY I didn't tell you," I started looking up at him "I'm sorry Alpha but if he had a silver knife, who knew what else he had? Or where he even got it! Simba is with me at school all day long and your not. I have no protection from him, if he is able to get a silver knife under his father, Alpha Leo's nose... what else is he capable of? That terrifies me more than even your father ever did!" I was starting to cry at this point and shake my voice having raised.

"Simba doesn't fear you because he will become the next Alpha of his Pride when his father passes it up! Because he will become a new Council member at the same time, he is so sure that he is untouchable because he has managed all of this under his own fathers nose! What do you think he will accomplish when he gets that power!?"

"Neil... You're Family to me," Callen started slowly almost pleadingly and picked up the knife "He has made actions against MY family, against MY community, against MY pack by owning this blade, he has broken more than one law here and so have you." I whimpered loudly looking up to him and he sighed and rose slowly pocketing the blade.

"You are lucky Neil, we are not going to punish you for this." he said looking down at me "I do understand all of your reasoning, please understand my view of it though. It all makes sense though now, the insistence on not showing your human body to anyone when changing forms. I'm not angry with you, just disappointed Neil. Tonight for the party, you and your mate will be in attendance, I can't and won't say otherwise, Ruban likes you too much. However there is something you are to do before it starts understand?" I nodded and he leaned in giving me a tight hug.

"Thank you Alpha" I said sniffling "I'm sorry I failed you like this." he sighed and shook his head.

"Neil, After everything you have been through... I guess I have failed you for not seeing the signs," he said slowly "I'll see you two in a few hours, Xander... give your mate a shower, be careful of his arm, it will still be sore."

"Yes Alpha." he said walking over and Callen reached out and flicked his nose.

"It's Callen, them I can understand calling me Alpha, you have no excuse." he said with a chuckle then walked out. Xander sighed and looked to me then slowly lifted me from the bed. My arm was in a soft cast, Lien's healing assistance had gone as far as it could healing the cuts, scratches and ribs but had run out by my arm. Another shift later once she had rested a bit would help set it right.

He stood me in the shower stall then turned it on before he close the door to the bathroom and joined me. He never said anything which worried me a little, I was curious why my loving, usually talkative mate was suddenly so quiet. It wasn't until the water was at a good temperature and I was fully wet down that he slapped my cheek firmly.

"Him I can understand," he started slowly when I looked to his angry expression "But why not me?"

"Because you would have told him," I said softly looking down slowly not worrying about the sting and slowly reddening hand print on my face "That should show you something... that as much as I love you... and I will always love you till the day I die... that I fear him more. This isn't normal bullying Xander... and he isn't just trying to scare me any more... I am Terrified of him!" I whimpered loudly starting to tear up, Xander rubbed his hand down my chest and belly, examining the scars before sighing softly.

"Maybe Shelly will know a way to remove these... we can ask her tonight," he said before smiling slightly and hugged me tightly "But please, in the future tell me these things! I need to know your alright when your out of my sight... do you know how hard it was to restrain Randy from storming over there and beating the life out of him? It wasn't easy, it took Callen telling me he was planning something and we would jeopardise it to hold him back." I nodded and kissed him softly.

"Now lets shower, before I molest you and your unable to walk tonight." he smiled and groped me making me give a soft moan.

"L...Looks like you and your fox will live up to his name." I said with a soft giggle grabbing the soap.

Luckily the shower was over before anything like that could happen, although there was some not to innocent groping involved from both of us. We took it as a chance to get to know each others human side more closely and while he did ask me about the scars on my back and linger a little over the ones on my front, he wasn't overly bothered by the whipping scars knowing that, in the end they all stemmed back to Simba.

He on the other hand was unblemished except for a few minor marks from when he was human. His body actually had more muscle tone than I had originally suspected. It was possibly an effect of his change into a Werefox that his muscle mass increased and fat decreased but I didn't mind or care one bit.

It wasn't until I looked in the mirror that I realised the true consequences of my attempt to fend off the rouges. Part of my left ear was gone possibly never to return, and there was a scar over my left eye where they had nearly taken it. I rubbed over it distressingly and Xander walked up behind me, grabbing my hand and pulling me backwards against his chest.

"Shelly said that one or two scars may remain," he told me and gave the back of my head a kiss "And if you ask me, what you did last night saved our lives and was the bravest thing I've ever seen, despite the fact I wasn't there to see it."

"It was still a stupid thing to do." I grumbled and he smiled pointing to the scar on my face in the mirror.

"Know what that says to me?" he asked and I shrugged, his smile got wider and he kissed at my cheek "That says 'I will sacrifice myself for those I love' and that means more than anything to me and for Alpha Callen it says 'I sacrificed myself, to defend my pack'" he smiled and kissed my cheek softly.

"And to us," he continued turning me to face him "That is more valuable than all the wolves in this house and gold in the world." he pulled me close and kissed me deeply.

"So from the deepest depths of my heart, I thank you," he said once he broke the kiss then turned to the door "Now Lets go get dressed for this party, You in your Finest fur..."

"And you in yours" I said with a chuckle and walked out into the room with him.

"Culem was in here a minute ago" Randy said bounding over "Said 'Orders from the top, Neil is to remain in Human form until after Alpha Callens speech to open the party'."

"Urgh Why?" I protested and he shrugged.

"Got me, but that's what he said." the fox responded and I grumbled pulling on a shirt and pants with some difficulty because of my cast. At the same time Xander and Randy shifted to mid form then pulled on pants before they helped me with my shirt.

"Don't worry, it'll be ok." he said and I nodded throwing a few logs on the fire to get it going again and keep it going for a few hours more. We wandered down towards the back yard, the aroma of cooking food and echo of merriment guiding us. Before we could get outside though, Beta Anders pulled us to one side.

"Over here you two," he called and smiled "Callen is about to start his announcement, he wants you two to wait till he calls you. Neil, take off your shirt, Alpha's orders, Xander, you're to Carry him out there."

"Take off?" I grumbled "You know how hard it was to get ON?"

"I know a way to take it off." Xander said trying to be seductive from behind me and I rolled my eyes as Beta Anders chuckled.

"No thanks, I'd like to keep what little clothing I have intact," I said back "Just lift from the bottom." I lifted my arms and Xander nodded lifting my shirt and pulling it off of me.

"Spoil sport." he protested and I yipped as I felt a hand trace over the words on my stomach yet I couldn't see them through my shirt.

"I warn you! Whoever that is... this makeshift cone-of-shame won't stop me from biting you!" I growled out and heard Xander chuckle.

"I don't know, Beta Anders might have a better bite than you do." he said still helping me.

"At least wait till I have it OFF." I protested as the shirt was pulled off of me. Anders was still tracing the letters, a look of offence in his eyes as he did.

"So that's what Callen was talking about." I heard Rubans voice and looked over to see him sitting not too far away looking at my chest.

"Yeah..." I said sadly "Not pretty am I?" I heard a growl over my shoulder from Xander and I waved my hand at him in dismissal.

"Well won't say that, I am gay after all," Ruban said with a chuckle and shifted in his seat "Just that you'd look better without those on there"

"They missed my nipples at least... For when I EVENTUALLY HAVE PUPPIES," I leaned down to yell the words at Lien after her thinking last night "I'm sure I'll need them when that happens." the others chuckled and Ruben nodded and we wandered over to sit with him.

"I never got a chance earlier," Ruban said slowly from next to me and suddenly his arms were around my neck and he was hugging me "Thank you for what you did last night, it means a lot to us." I smiled and hugged him back tightly.

"It's time, He is about to start." Beta Anders said with a smile.


	8. Chapter 8

"Greetings all!" Alpha Callen called out to the, what sounded like, quite obviously large crowd. "OI! BEARS! PUT DOWN THE BOOZE FOR A MINUTE!" I chuckled hearing this. Typical bears and their drinks, once at the bar you could never get them away from it unless you had meat, stronger booze on a stick or the supply ran dry, something that never happened at these events.

"Thank you. I welcome you all to the full moon feast but I have a few things to deal with before we get started. First up, I wish to introduce my mate! Ruban Fairfeild!" He called out. Anders picked the human up and smiled.

"That's our Queue," Anders said holding him securely in his arms "See you in a bit." he wandered out to a round of loud applause including some 'I'll drink to that!' from the bears obviously before it died down.

"Now, the next bit is less pleasant I'm afraid, be thankful no one has eaten yet," came Alpha Callen's voice "Some illegal activities have recently been brought to our attention, quite serious ones at that. Someone in this community has been acting against my orders and on top of that, against the council laws. Xander, Please bring your mate out!" I gulped swallowing hard as Xander lifted me holding me close to his furry chest and kissed me gently on the top of the head.

"Stay strong, I'll be right by your side." he said softly and walked me out. The stage was large, and Luna Ruban sat to the back with Anders and all of the Council Alphas. A strong spotlight tracked us as we walked out but I could see that there was a huge crowd of people gathered around. A fire pit towards the back had meats spit roasting and there was a metal box in the pit as well in which some vegetables were roasting. A long bar off to one side with a table of fruits, raw vegetables and deserts off to the other side of the yard. Everything smelled delicious and this was the first full moon feast I didn't need to cook for. I spotted Luna Leo and Luna Mclaughlan tending to the meats on the Spit while several other males and females pottered around the food on the buffet table making sure everything was being tended to for when it was finally ready.

"This as you all may know, is the Pack Smith Omega, Neil and Lien," Alpha Callen said as I was carried out and Xander stood me next to him then stepped back to stand directly behind me. There were grumbles, and murmurings which turned to gasps as the stage lights shifted to make shadows over my chest and stomach, showing off the scars and I squirmed slightly, Lien sitting at my feet and looking nervous. "Now, as you can plainly see he has been disgustingly assaulted. These scars were made by one of the members of this community. Not only are they atrocious, some of these could have been Life threatening! As we all know, only silver or fighting in full or mid form could cause this kind of damage and the latter would only last a few days for wounds this shallow." he paused and pat me on the shoulder to try to calm me as I had started shaking slightly at the fact there were so many eyes on me.

"I will not beat around the bush here... I call the Leo Family! Get up here! NOW!" there was shuffling and they slowly made their way forward, Alpha Leo moving to stand by his wife Sarabi with their children behind them and Beta Leon next to him with his very pregnant mate Cassandra, or Cassy as she liked to be called "Alpha Mufasa, Luna Sarabi, Beta Leon and his mate Cassandra Please stand over here with Neil, Lien, Xander and his fox Randy." they nodded and made their way over, Sarabi and Cassandra looking over my front closer once they were able to and looked upset at the damage, Sarabi growling softly as she ran her pawed hand over the word 'Murderer'.

"You four, have been upstanding members of the community and it grieves me greatly to do this," Alpha Callen said turning back to the others "Simba Leo, Step forward." Simba did so looking confused yet still high and mighty with himself.

"Simba Leo, YOU have attacked Omega Neil on multiple occasions I was sickened to find out just how much. You have broken three major laws in our community! One You decided to attack an Omega after I expressly forbade it! Two, you smuggled, into our community a concealed weapon with a silver blade and Three, the worst of the three, you assaulted a member of this community with said weapon!"

"You can't prove it!" he snorted crossing his arms "It's my word against Its!"

"WRONG!" Alpha Callen roared out angrily and pulled the blade out of his pocket showing it to him "After obtaining the information of your activities, we searched your room, and guess what we found! Recognise it? It was in your room and I tested it myself, this pocket knife has a Silver blade on it!"

"That's not mine! The thing could have planted it after doing that to its self!" he defended himself trying to shift the blame onto me and even gestured towards me. Xander growled softly but was silenced when Beta Leon placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Correction, it IS yours and we can prove it!. LUCE! Display!" Alpha Callen called out and Luce stepped forward clicking his fingers. Above him a large image of Simba wielding the knife and carving into my stomach showed up for the whole community to see from my view point which then changed to Lien's viewpoint "Last night Luce took this memory from their mind. As some of you know mental images like this cannot be faked, not to this detail. Next is this small bit... some parents may want to cover their cubs eyes."

There was a shuffling from the crowd as some parents did just that then Luce clicked his fingers again. The memory of Simba grabbing me, threatening me and then throwing me over the railing, as well as my crawl to the bathroom showed like a movie.

"We have it from another view too! It shows your best side I must say." Luce said clicking his fingers again showing Lien's view. This time showing the stab with the same blade Callen was holding, the push, my impact with the stairs and floor and her running to my side before it vanished.

"We checked back through Neil and Lien's memories, Know what we found? That this is just the latest assaults!" The Alpha was angry now and getting more so as Simba still looked undisturbed by it all and while I couldn't see it, I could feel the anger in the air from the other Alphas in the community "We counted, in the last ten years, over one thousand different assaults, out of that, forty could have been life threatening! They weren't all by you however. No, some of them were by your sisters and brother! Even the punishment dealt to Neil by the late Alpha Smith was because of your assault with this knife carving that into his skin! On their birthday of all days!" Alpha Callen turned towards us and slowly walked over.

"Alpha Mufasa Leo, I do not hold you or your wife responsible but sadly, my decision may come across as a punishment to you. Mufasa, you have been a roll model for me while growing up, you showed me that being an Alpha is about care, compassion and love and that makes me hate to do this to you even more." He pat him on the shoulder, Alpha Leo looking touched but still heartbroken and angry with his son before Alpha Callen turned back to Simba "Simba Leo, two punishments are in store for you today. Your first, for breaking the council law of no silver weapons outside of wartime and for using said weapon. By council law and decree you are to be given twelve lashes with a kitsune dealt publicly by your father and I don't envy you for it." Neither did I, Alpha Leo prided himself on his skills with a whip, it being his preferred weapon during times of conflict with the Vampire clans or Angels and Demons.

"The second, I cannot in good conscious let the position of a Council Alpha, or even just the Alpha of any Pride, let alone one as prestigious as the Leo family go to someone like you, or any of your siblings. Beta Leon, your first son will inherit the position and may he be raised like I was." Alpha Callen turned to us and smiled rubbing at Cassandra's belly before looking to Alpha Leo "May you influence him like you did me Mufasa."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Simba shouted angrily drawing our attention back to him "It Takes a Council vote to do that!"

"Very well, we have the whole Council up here on stage," Came the response from Luce with a chuckle as Callen turned to look at the self absorbed youth "Hell the whole Community is, let's put this to the first ever community wide vote since the Council was formed! All those in Favour of Alpha Callen Smith's decision Say Aye!" There was a loud uproar of 'Aye' all in unison, even from Alpha Leo and his wife.

"Those Opposed?" Alpha Callen called and Simba and his siblings cried out 'Nay' "Any who Abstain?" was his last call and I raised my hand drawing a chuckle from the white wolf.

"May I ask why?" Alpha Leo asked from behind me and I blushed after jumping a little hearing him address me directly.

"Because I have been the victim all these years, my opinion would be biased." I answered and all the Council members laughed heartily.

"Boy if you don't beat all." Alpha Callen said with a chuckle.

"Remind me to get you a drink." Alpha Leo said and the bears and bovines by the bar cheered.

"As long as it wont blow my fur off." I responded with a shy smile and the same crowd laughed and called out that tap water would be the best option then.

"At any rate, the motion is carried," Callen said turning back to Simba "As of this day, the position of Alpha to the Leo pride and Council Alpha will be passed through Leon's bloodline. I will however allow Kovu to take position as future Beta, as he did the least, only assaulting twice in the whole time period and that was after being pushed into doing so by you Simba. Now, I have ordered your punishment, it's time for the girls." he nodded to Anders who strode forward, grabbed Simba roughly and dragged him to one side.

"Ladies, I will be lenient with you, to a degree. You all assisted in concealing an illegal weapon, you all assisted in the continual torment and torture of Neil and you all stood by as your brother nearly killed him, several times," he looked back and stepped over to Luna Sarabi who was starting to sob softly "My Lady, I will pass their punishment onto you and your Mate. I know this is hardest on you, you did everything right, why are they such little shits? Sadly, the only reason I can think of is that they believed they were protected by their brother and their father. Lady Sarabi, you were the woman who stepped in to help be the mother I lost and even to this day I know that she would be proud of you for that, you did nothing wrong." he gave her a tight hug and kissed her cheek.

"Sadly, sometimes all it takes is one rotten fruit to ruin the whole basket," he added and she nodded "And look, even without you involved, one went right." Alpha smiled and pat me on the shoulder making me blush brightly and she chuckled and nodded again.

"Now, you girls off stage, we have some business to deal with," Alpha Callen said thumbing towards them and they all departed except Kovu "That included you Kovu." the boy nodded and jumped off stage following the girls. The wolf walked over to the side of the stage they had been standing on and pulled down a black sheet exposing the wheel I had previously been strapped to by his father and grabbed the whip off of it and walked back over to us.

"Anders, Leon, would you kindly?" he asked motioning towards the wheel and they nodded. It was at that point that Simba decided it would be a good idea to panic, struggle and start shouting profanities as he was dragged over "Now I know no one here wants to see this before eating, especially with today meant to be a night of celebration and joy and I never wanted to get to this point, I'm starting to feel like I'm being a tyrant like my father was."

"If I may Alpha Callen." a voice came from the crowd, a mid form nanny goat holding her hand up.

"Yes go ahead?" he responded curious.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say... You are nothing like your father... and that he broke the laws and knew that he was doing so, so he had this coming." there was a chorus of cheer and applause from around the audience as well as more 'I'll Drink to that!' from the bar and Alpha Callen chuckled.

"Well, Thank you for that!" he said with a smile "Now you all may be Wondering, as I am sure Alpha Leo is, Why I am giving Alpha Leo the whip and not doing it myself, well there are a few reasons... oh Neil you can shift to mid form if you'd like." I blushed and nodded shifting quickly, my tail wagging slightly as Xander gave me a tight hug after slipping a new tank-top he had probably gotten me today over my shoulders.

"Anyway, the reason is two fold," Callen said with a smile "One, punishments by parents always set more firmly the consequences of bad actions into a child's mind and I use 'mind' loosely here. Two, It involves using a whip and, well, I am shit at it." he smiled and joined in as there was a chorus of laughter around the yard and he turned to see Leon and Anders still struggling with Simba.

"Simba, Either stop struggling, or I'll increase the lashes" he said and Alpha Leo rumbled a growl walking over. He grabbed him by the back of his neck and pushed him firmly against the wheel.

"Stop or you'll get a worse punishment at home than I already have planned!" the large male said in warning and Simba Froze looking back at him, his arms and legs quickly bound. Alpha Leo retreated back a little to striking range.

"Everyone feel free to count along!" He called out before getting a wind up. There was the all too familiar whoosh-crack as it impacted and I flinched. The crowd calling out one and Simba screamed out in pain. This continued till they got to six when the queasiness I was feeling hit a peak and ran to a bin to throw up.

"Neil!?" Alpha Callen, Xander, and Luna Leo all called rushing over to me.

"I...I'm sorry Alpha I...I just... I couldn't..." I said looking up to him with a whimper and he shook his head and a napkin was promptly passed over then was pressed to my muzzle to start wiping it clean.

"No I'm sorry," Alpha Callen said slowly and rubbed my back "I should have known this would bring back bad memories for you... I'm so sorry you are having to relive it." I whimpered softly and he helped me up and over to sit with Ruban. I sat down with sigh and was quickly offered a glass of water to drink by my mate.

The punishment continued till the count of twelve, I was squirming uneasily with each crack and had tears matting my face and my hand was shaking while holding the glass of water. I was mid meltdown at this point, the cracks making my back burn with each sound. Alpha Leo tossed the whip calmly to Luce as he passed him and grabbed a blanket that had been brought out by Shelly. He opened it widely, flagging it a little and in one smooth motion wrapped me in it and pulled me close.

"Shh, Shh, calm down little one, its over." was all he said softly, his head on mine as I cried into his furry lion chest. He looked up to Xander and Callen who sighed softly and let him tend to me while Simba was taken away, possibly to be treated but I didn't exactly care at this point.

"Ok guys, Enjoy the Party." Alpha Callen called out to everyone and then chuckled "I would say 'don't get too drunk' but I know you guys, Yes! You guys by the bar!" I managed to look up to see him pointing towards the bar, everyone there giving a cheer and raising their glass before downing it.

Everyone returned to socialising and drinking as they seemingly forgot about the punishment that had been dealt out. I remained where I was even after Alpha Leo let me go once I had calmed down enough that I wasn't crying or shaking any more. His arms were replaced by Rubans and he didn't seem to want to let me go. Xander walked up with Shelly a couple minutes later and she gave me the usual check over, by this time I had calmed down and was breathing easily.

"Shelly..." Xander said getting her attention "We wanted to ask... can you think of anything that might be able to remove those scars on his chest and belly?"

"Hmm, Can you shift to human? Id like to get a closer look if I may." she asked and I nodded shifting back to human form, Lien sitting at my feet. She removed the cast on my arm after checking it had healed and started groping over my front, inspecting the scars closely. I managed to catch a glimpse of buckets, mops and cloths cleaning up the bloody mess left by Simba's punishment, Luce using his magic to make the objects work on their own so the party wouldn't be disturbed.

"There is one possibility I read about... they are only shallow scars so there is one possibility... Lien can you find Callen for me?" She looked down to my fox who nodded and ran off finding the alpha over by the roasting pit before bringing him back.

"Hey bitch, what's up? Is Neil ok?" he asked concerned and she chuckled at the obvious joking insult and nodded.

"Yeah he is ok, maybe a little bit of PTSD but that will get better over time," she answered "They asked me about a way to remove these words on him... and I can think of only one way... but this is going to hurt a little... to all three of you." she looked to Xander then back to me and then Callen.

"As much as the mental trauma he is going to get from having them the rest of his life?" Xander asked.

"I agree there, What is it?" Alpha asked curiously.

"It takes the strength of an Alpha and the subjects Mate to pull this off... Callen, you, in mid form, bite his mating mark, Xander, in mid form, bite the other side of his neck, both at the same time. Try to concentrate on sharing your strength with him then count to five. All of you think simply about healing the scars. This will probably hurt or at least be uncomfortable but it could work... but just so you know... it's only worked three times in the whole history it's been known of, so don't be disappoint if it doesn't." they nodded and took position.

"Three..." I said softly "Two..."

"One!" they both said at the same time and bit down. I cried out as they bit down, my whole body starting to burn. I counted slowly, trying not to scream as the pain continued to increase and my fingernails dug into the chair. The pain reached a peak before they both let go of me at five. We all panted, knowing we had shared the discomfort and hoped it had worked.

"Lets have a look," Shelly said shifting Callen to one side and had a look, her face lighting up "Oh my goddess! It worked! It's almost all gone! Only a few light scars where it was a little deeper!" We looked down, my belly and chest now smooth and unblemished once more except for a few lines here and there, I smiled, and leapt at her and Callen hugging them tightly.

"Oh Thank you! Thank you!" I said and bounced a little with joy and they chuckled hugging back till I let them go and turned and hugged Xander tightly.

"Sadly the scar over your eye, your ear and the scars on your back can't be removed that way" Shelly said running a hand over my back "But at least the more mentally damaging ones are gone" I nodded still smiling before changing to mid form.

"Oh wow... Th...That's something I didn't expect!" she said looking up at me and pulled my face closer to hers looking into my eyes.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked a little concerned and she shook her head and started digging in her handbag.

"Its Your eyes!" Callen said a little startled and Shelly pulled a compact out of her bag and opened it showing me.

"Th... The left one is blue!" I said looking into the small mirror startled.

"This must be a side effect of sharing the Alphas energy." Xander said with a smile looking over my shoulder at the reflection "I think it looks Great!" I blushed and smiled nodding a little looking to Callen.

"We could use your kitchen expertise" Alpha Callen said with a chuckle "Yes we have Chefs in the community but I'd like you to carve the roasts." I blushed.

"Isn't It the community Alpha's job to make the first cut?" I asked and he smiled.

"Normally yes, however I feel you have earned it." he said and took me by the hand like I was some princess once I had a top on. I blushed deeply and nodded letting him guide me through to where they were going to carve and had taken one deer off the spit already, sitting it on the board.

The meat had had the bones removed, been rolled and seasoned before being placed on the spits, meaning carving would be easier. The bones were being prepared elsewhere specially for the canines in the community so everyone would get one. An apron was put on me, not to protect me from the food but to protect the food from my fur. I picked up the carving fork and tested the knife carefully to make sure it was sharp before I started cutting. There was plenty of meat this hunt, so I was able to carve it into generous portions.

The board had been specially made for this so we could continue to carve meat without the juice getting in the way or being lost. It would drain off into a pan bellow where it would be turned into a thick gravy once it was all done being carved. Normally I was given the leftover scrappy pieces that were on the board or left in the bottom of the meat tray once everyone had gotten their own. Alpha Smith had made sure I was always last in line and gave me these pieces specially, although that was if he let me out of the house for the event in the first place. This time however, Callen was right there to give me some decent pieces of meat. Even though some people were a little irritated that I was doing the carving but they all shut up when the council Alphas eyed them irritably.

I continued carving till all the meat was done and it took me a while. Multiple deer, fish, hare even a wild boar that had been caught by the pack and community last night. Boar was a rare treat due to being hard to prepare and catch. Although what would be hunted for Christmas, would be an even rarer treat, for me especially. Every year the pack hunts down moose while the lions hunt down a bison. We protected them on our lands and only hunted them once a year, usually only taking a few as they were such large animals.

Alpha Smith had forbidden me from coming out for the Christmas feast. He locked me in my room only letting me out to clean up at the end or to prepare the meat the day of the event. This year though, I would be part of the hunt, part of the feast, part of the community and I looked forward to it. For now I sat with my mate at Alpha Callens table, Ruban having insisted that we join them and I couldn't say no to the honour of sitting with them.

The table was a large one, with all of the Council Alphas and their mates around it as well as Anders and his mate Shelly who was discussing a cake recipe with Luna Sarabi. It was known as the 'Alpha Table' or 'Council table' usually and to be invited to join was an honour for anyone.

"Here you go Neil" Alpha Leo said passing a glass over to me before he sat back down with his mate "Its a glass of punch from the adults table, it's got tequila in it this year but isn't too strong" I chuckled and nodded taking it from him.

"Thank you Alpha Leo" I said taking a sip, the tequila was definitely there but it was just enough to add some taste and a light warming "I...I'm sorry I caused your Pride so much trouble..."

"Now now, he brought it on himself," The large male said with a rumble of mild irritation intended for his son "He decided to break the laws, he decided to continue the abuse, he decided to attack you after he was told it was to end. I am just sorry and angry that it got to this point and that I didn't know what was going on with my own children."

"As am I, although not at you Mufasa," Came the melodic voice of Alpha Raven, her plate full of salad, fruits and nuts as well as meat "How he managed to get the knife past our surveillance is something we are looking into so this never happens again."

"We will be beginning a full level investigation," Alpha Callen suddenly piped up "I had the idea of appointing the Council Betas to search every house hold, every building and check off against the database anything Silver owned in the community and confiscating anything that is found that is unregistered or in the possession of someone who should not have it."

"I like this idea, Start at my Clinic if you can, I think some of my silver tools and scalpels have gone missing." Shelly said suddenly "I normally keep them under lock and key in a lock box, in a safe in my office, all with separate keys and only I and the council has access to the safe key... but I'm a few short at last count."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Alpha Ramside asked and she sighed.

"Because I thought it was possible that they had just been misplaced or accidentally thrown out," she admitted timidly "I never suspected that someone would steal them or somehow get access to them."

"Do I have your permissions to proceed with this plan?" Callen asked looking around the table "It will mean every house and business is checked, no exceptions. We will start with the pack house, show that even I am to be scrutinised." they all nodded and finally Alpha Isto spoke up.

"You have my ok, however," He boomed with his deep voice "I have one conditional request." he turned to look at me and I shied away a little.

"And that is?" Alpha Valentine asked.

"He, she... Neil is to join the group," he said and they all turned to follow his gaze to me "Omega Neil, I formally request, as a member of the Council, that you assist in this task."

"Why her?" Alpha Gold asked waving a hand in my direction.

"Because she was most directly involved in the creation of this project," came the equines answer "She has proven that she can be impartial, honourable and most importantly, is willing to sacrifice everything for her community. If you want proof of that, you merely look at her face." he smiled and traced a thick finger over his eye in the exact position my latest scar was. I dropped my ears in embarrassment at the praise.

"Seconded." Alpha Callen spoke up and I blinked looking to him. I hadn't expected him to Second the motion.

"I also second the motion, anyone else?" Alpha Leo asked looking around the table, getting a raise of all hands "Then it is passed, Omega Neil, please report to Betas Anders, Leon, Kendo, Olivia, Marko, Derrick, Daivat, Crystal and Samuel in the council room tomorrow around lunch time. You will report only to the council." I nodded and gave a soft sigh, Great more work.

"Until this task is complete, you are off the roster," Callen said more sternly than I had heard from him before "Be efficient, think creative and be thorough, leave no stone unturned or tree house unchecked, you have Council level authority." I nodded again and took a swig of my drink. It was going to be a long time till Christmas.


	9. Chapter 9

Xander sighed as he watched me pace the room in front of the bed. I had awoken some hours earlier and had proceeded to pace while thinking about the task I had been set by the alphas.

"Neil, your going to wear out the rug," Xander said with another sigh watching me "Or wear out your paw pads and that would be painful." I looked over to him a little irritably and with some distress.

"I'm sorry I just..." I started and he shook his head.

"I know, I know, your worried about what is going to happen with the Betas and if you'll make a good impression. C'mon lets go get you all cleaned up at least before you meet them all," he suggested "Lets have a nice hot shower and I'll give your fur a good brush over and you'll relax a little." I gave a sigh but nodded. He got up out of the bed and grabbed my hand then made towards our bathroom with me in tow.

The shower didn't take long and he didn't let me do anything. He soaped me down, added conditioner and generally fussed over me. Soon I was laying on the bed with him brushing down the fur on my belly and chest and I was murring softly as I finally relaxed.

"Looks like the idea was worth it," he said with a chuckle and I meeped when I felt one of his hands between my legs "It was either this or a hard mounting but I didn't want to wear you out before your meeting with them, that and I'm sure my knot will take too long to go down." I gave him a soft seductive growl and kissed him.

"That, and we don't have condoms yet," I said with a smirk "I'd like not to get pregnant so soon."

"Would be a great Christmas gift for us." he said with a wink and I rolled my eyes.

"They aren't just for Christmas you know," I said with a chuckle "You just became a Were hun, I'm going to be hunting down illegal silver, the pack house is in chaos at the moment with whisperings of Callen planning something huge and everyone is still grumpy about having to do work around the place for the first time in years. Now isn't the best time to have kits Xand." he chuckled and nodded kissing me.

"I know but I'd like to know the card is still on the table at the least." he responded honestly and I nodded.

"Believe me, Lien is screaming inside me for us to have kits, so it's still on the table but let's wait a while for now ok? At least till things settle down. In the mean time, go get some condoms from the shops. Maybe do a little gift shopping while there. Go with Callen or Luce if you want some help getting me something for Christmas." I checked the clock then got up and started pulling clothes on, still needing help with the tank top he had gotten me and grabbed a jacket in case we were going to go out today. It was in the minuses outside nowadays and I was still undernourished enough I struggled to stay warm even if I was in my fur "Sadly I gotta go, they said to be there around lunch time." he nodded and gave me a deep kiss.

"Stay safe hun, don't do anything silly," he said with a smile "Now go protect the future of our kits!" I nodded and headed out after one last kiss, giving a sigh as I made my way towards the council room feeling my anxiety start to mount again.

As I opened the door I was unsurprised to see everyone sitting in the seats that their Alphas usually sat in. They all looked up to me and only one or two of them smiled as I closed the doors behind me. I made my way to Luces seat and sat down, blushing slightly as their eyes all continued to watch me.

At the head of the table was Beta Anders, Beta to the Smith Pack and my personal Beta. Well known and sort of respected by the others in the room. His all black fur gave him the advantage when hunting at night and he was rumoured to be stronger than most Alphas in the community. He was well trained and an expert at close quarters combat with a bastard sword and shield during times of war and often said he could cut his enemy nine times before they hit the ground. He tended to be in charge of training the war wolves in weapons training. Usually we couldn't begin training till mid teens with the more intensive training, such as weapon training, starting once we left schooling.

To his left was Beta Leon, Beta to the Leo family. Leon was a laid back person but didn't take shit from anyone. He was calm and collected at the best of times but at the worst he was a force to be reckoned with. His lion, Bartelby, often made fun of him just for shits and giggles but they somehow made a perfect team. Leon was a master with a battle Scythe and was nicknamed the 'vampires grim reaper' for his expertise.

To Anders right was Beta Daivat, a Stag and Beta to Alpha Isto. Cold and calculating, I knew little about his personality. It was rumoured that he had no love for anyone and respected few, he was a berserker who would snap and fly into a rage when threatened or insulted. His battle axe, which he nicknamed 'Happy' was highly feared by everyone and he often said he could 'find a place for happy in everyone'. In the last war, he managed to take down a High Count in only a few seconds on his own after he was insulted about his mother. He did, in fact, have a strong sense of loyalty towards his family and would protect them at all costs. His stag was called Overgrow and he seemed to share the same personality as his human side, which was rare in a Were.

On the Carnivores side, and directly next to me was Beta Kendo, Beta to Alpha Tango. His fox was Dekon and he and Lien got along well whenever they socialised, usually at the full moon party. A tall and highly muscled Arctic fox, he kept a regal and graceful air about him at all times. He was much like his alpha personality wise and was open and friendly to all that he considered friends and even just so in the bedroom, apparently having quite a harem of Weres that were rejected by their mates.

Despite the usual consequences when being rejected of eventual madness, his 'harem' of rejected Weres are all fine. Somehow he had a way of taking the position of their mate and as a result kept them together emotionally and mentally. Although it wasn't a connection as deep as with his true mate, at one point I had even contemplated going to him if or when I was rejected myself.

All parties were willing and open about the relationship, even his mate had no problem with him sharing the love. However to those that crossed him, he had no reserves about dealing what he thought was just punishment, both in and out of the bedroom. A perfectionist with his cane sword which he carried at all times, battles were usually graceful but ended with a large amount of blood being spilled, rarely his own.

Next to him was Beta Crystal, Beta to Alpha Song . A female Polar bear, she was a large and imposing force and often referred to as a brick wall. Her bear was Lysar who was usually friendly and cuddly, a complete mirror image of her human counterpart who was loud and obnoxious. She played all ice sports and even though she was a goalie in much of them, was known for the high amount of contact she had with the opposing team earning herself the nickname 'Hun of the ice'. She was a tough and firm individual who disliked small talk or anything that wasted her time. She was a truly gruesome fighter, using a double ended pole arm, she was usually covered in blood and her enemies were often a pile of flying mince meat by time she had stopped moving it.

Next was Beta Samuel, Beta to Alpha King. He was the opposite to his Alpha and was known to have a love for everyone. He and his tortoise shell cat, Manuel, often dealt with the clean up of the actions of the felines around the community and quite often exposed his dislike for his Alpha not wanting to do his job. He was an expert with a mace, able to decapitate most of his enemies with a single swing. However he disliked combat and often stayed back to pick off the ones who were on their way out anyway, calling it an act of mercy to end their suffering.

On the other side of the table were the Betas of the Herbivore Alphas, starting with Beta Derrick, Beta to Alpha Raven. I had met him before during the training incident and he was devoted to keeping the community safe. Always out on patrol, he and his raven, Recker, were always up to help anyone with anything. They were a crack shot with their bow, often killing their enemies with a shot to the head from almost any distance and rarely missed their target. This often irritated the more blood thirsty members of the community as he would 'take their kill'.

Next was Beta Olivia, Beta to Alpha Ramside. She was a cow... literally, her bovine half was named Clover. Friendly to everyone, she enjoyed making people smile and had a love for everyone she could lay her eyes on. She personally ran the daycare centre and was always happy to give out her own milk during snack time. She despised conflict and was the last line of defence for the cubs if Luce and the other Sigmas failed to protect them. Olivia was skilled with guns if she had to use them but she preferred to give interlopers a hoof to the face. Still, she vowed to protect the communities young at all cost; when asked if the cubs were okay her usual response was "Is the vault open? No? Then I'm not dead yet."

Lastly was Beta Marko, Beta to Alpha Valentine. He was much like his Alpha but was often more hands on than Alpha Valentine was. His rat Kram, was friendly and trusting but crossing them was a foolish move. Skilled heavily in martial arts and close quarters combat, they were masters with twin daggers but it was unknown just how many weapons he had on him during times of war. A perfect body guard, he often protected the wounded in war times and had been nicknamed the 'Hospital Ninja' for his killing of enemies who got too close to the wounded.

"Well looks like we are all assembled," Beta Anders said with a smile, his tail thumping against his chair legs "We were starting to wonder when you were going to get here."

"I was about to offer everyone drinks!" Beta Olivia said and there was a soft chuckle around the room.

"I do apologise Betas," I apologised softly "My mate was giving my fur a brush to calm my nerves and we lost track of time."

"Awww! How sweet! Your mate Brushes you!" Olivia said holding her face looking joyful and there was another chuckle around the room.

"Anyway," Beta Crystal started and took a bite of an energy bar she had in her meaty paw "Lets get on with this, what's going on Lurch? there isn't a war on."

"On topic as always," he acknowledged and nodded "Ok ladies... and Daivat, we have been given a special task by the council. We are to search the community, house by house, car by car, shed by shed, litter box by litter box for any Silver weapons or belongings that are not on the register. As you know, Neil here was assaulted by a member of the community with one such item. Our task is to track down and confiscate anything that is off the records. We are also tasked with looking for where these are being smuggled from and close the gap down."

"Tall order being so close to Christmas," Beta Derrick remarked "Everyone will be hiding something from their family because of the time of year."

"True, however we have Council level authority for this task and we are to considered this a level one priority." Anders said softly.

"Lets at least be smart about it," I spoke up drawing their attention and hoping I wasn't speaking out of turn or seeming rude "Don't make a mess, if you go through a box, put everything back, take a book off a shelf, put it back, the last thing we want to do is piss people off. We are doing this for their safety, not just because we want to be doing it for kicks or to intentionally irritate them."

"Why are you in here little Omega?" Beta Daivat suddenly asked looking at me and I backed into the seat a little, his eyes cold like he was imagining every way he could find a place for 'Happy' in me "You're not a Beta."

"Was a condition to this project the Council ordered," Anders said "Alpha Isto said she was to be part of it as she was directly effected by our laps in security concerning the matter."

"The Alpha has a point, couldn't get a better poster child." Beta Samuel said and their was a grumble and nod from everyone in agreement.

"For today, we are to search the Pack House, it is a large building so will take most of the day," Anders said "We will start in the Attic and Omega Neils room. No, this isn't me saying 'I don't trust you' Neil, this is us doing exactly what the Council wants, being precise and thorough. No one is to go unchecked, even the Alphas of this council have instructed we investigate their own homes." I nodded and rose from my seat slowly.

"Just so you know, the door to the attic is small and off my bathroom," I warned them "Not everyone will fit through... and you may see some underwear laying around, Xander isn't the tidiest of people."

"HAH! Wait till you see MY room!" Beta Crystal said with a laugh and everyone joined in.

"At least tidy it up the dirty clothes a little before we get there," Olivia told her as we made our way up. When we got there Xander was gone, a note saying he had gone out with Luce to get some presents and then decorate the front yard of the pack house.

"Ok, Samuel, Marko, Derrick, you inspect the Attic area, the rest of us will inspect the room. Neil, as this is your room we may ask you a few questions. For now you're not to get involved till we are finished ok?" I nodded and guided them through to our bathroom and opened the door to the attic.

"That's ok with me Beta, I have nothing to hide. Do watch out for spiders in the attic, I haven't had a chance to go in there yet and clean up." I warned and let them through.

"Ooo! Spiders!" Derrick said and changed to raven form as he hopped through "I'll clear them for you!" I watched as he started flying around, finding almost every web and eating their contents. Birds... eww.

"Is this Registered?" Came Kendos question from the bedroom and I wandered through to see him pointing at the foxes on the bed with his cane.

"As far as I know yes, is possibly under Alpha Leo or Alpha Callen." I answered and he pulled out the data pad they had and started browsing through.

"Ah yep, here it is, under Alpha Mufasa Leo," he finally said "One gold and Silver bed ornament. I will add, it's in fine taste!"

"I'll tell him that when I next see him," I said with a smile "Alpha Leo commissioned the bed for me after..." Kendo was looking at me with a look of bewilderment that I hadn't ordered the bed myself, Anders pulled him over and whispered in his ear and the large fox then nodded.

"Ah I see, well then, we will be extra careful with the room." he smiled and gave a wink then walked over to the closet and started rummaging through Xanders things. Olivia was going through my stuff. I may mainly see myself as a guy but I was glad she was the one going through them.

"We're going to need to take you Clothes shopping Girl!" she said and I laughed.

"I'm a guy in human form you know, I'm no drag queen so it would be odd me wandering around the streets in ladies clothing," I said still chuckling "At the moment I'm just trying to make it universal to both forms." I watched as they continued, the others coming back a few minutes later with Derrick looking quite happy with himself.

"Didn't find anything and its now spider free!" he reported as he closed the door and the others nodded.

"Well one room down and all I need to report is that you pass muster... that and all we found was one fat and happy Raven." Anders said eyeing Derrick who stuck out his tongue as Anders marked down on the check list.

We checked every room on the floor till we came to Luce's room, which was just down the hall from mine. No one managed to open the door and they all continued to get more and more irritated as the master key they had been given didn't open the door.

"May I try?" I asked stepping forward and knocked lightly on the door "Culem, It's Neil, can we come in please? It's important." there was a click and the door opened of its own free will. The Snow-leopard was sitting on a large cat tree near the window and was watching us intently.

"I see you have company." he said narrowing his eyes and I raised my hands defensively.

"We are under orders to check every house and room in the community," I said simply as I stepped in "See this as a form of trust that callen is having us search every room, even mine, yours and his own, mine was just finished a little while ago." he nodded and the others slowly walked in. His room was impeccably clean and tidy, with everything dusted and cleaned, not even a thin layer of fresh dust on anything. I kept Culem company and talked to him while everyone searched.

"Careful with that," the feline suddenly called out as Beta Crystal went to take a silver urn off a shelf "That contains my fathers ashes." She nodded and slowly turned it around to check the registration marking against the database before placing it back on the shelf just as it had been before she had taken it down.

"I'm sorry we are doing this Culem, you know why though." I said looking to him and gently pet his head.

"I do, you are looking for any illegal silver or other harmful items and while I dislike the idea of being suspected, I take it that this is a case of everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise," I nodded petting him more "Wise policy when dealing with such... dangerous goods."

"Well that's your room done," Anders said a minute later "Thank you for your patience Culem, I apologise for inconveniencing you."

"Perfectly understandable, just remember as you continue your work," he said his tail giving a soft wag "A knock before you enter will go a long way for you being seen in a good light to everyone as you go." Anders nodded and we all walked out, closing the door softly.

"How is this for an idea?" Olivia spoke up as we continued to the next room "We will all look, Neil, you keep them calm, last thing we want is the wolves panicking."

"It's a good idea, there is one drawback though," I muttered a little sadly "I'm sure they would rather beat me up than let me in the room."

"That may be the other reason Alpha Isto wants you on this project, to test their self control," Leon said with a chuckle "Anyway, in here." he knocked politely on the door.

"What do you want!?" came back the very angry response.

"Council orders, room inspection!" Leon called back.

"Fuck off I'm busy!" came the voice again and Anders growled softly. He stepped forward and opened the door roughly.

"HE SAID ROOM INSPECTION!" he boomed angrily and the female jumped up from the bed eyes wide seeing it was her, now quite angry Beta "Rachel, You are on laundry duty! Get your ass downstairs NOW! That's another week of no pay! NOW MOVE IT!" he pointed out the door and she ran off with a huff.

As we stepped into the room I stopped Anders with a gentle grab to his arm and sniffed the air.

"Sir... Beta... Do you smell that?" I asked and they all turned to regard me carefully as I sniffed the air.

"You can drop the Sir and Beta with us," he said with a chuckle and sniffed as well "And now you mention it... what IS that?" we sniffed for a moment, wandering around the room before he pulled the bed up showing us a few boxes bellow where the smell was coming from. Pulling them out we opened them and were, almost, not surprised.

"Drugs..." Anders said droningly.

"Anise," I added pulling the bottle of the small star seeds out "Lions-tail... Liver-wart... Silver-Vine... oh and Catnip!" I pulled each out then put it back after working out what it was. Anise, Lions-paw, Liver-wart, Silver-Vine and catnip boosted the effect of marijuana on Weres when mixed with the herb. Normally Marijuana had the same effect as air on its own to Weres so there wasn't a high trade for it. Needless to say there was an ample supply of all six contained in the boxes.

"Well we can clean up more than just silver I guess," Kendo said with a shrug "But the amount she has here... Your pack is fucked up!" he looked to Anders who chuckled and shook his head.

"Tell us something we don't know," I muttered softly looking at the large stash "Sorry Anders but after recent events, you cant deny it." I looked to him and he nodded knowing I was implying everything that came to light when I was injured and Callen took over as community Alpha.

"Ok well, lets put it in the evidence lockers in the basement for now, the council can deal with it later. Daivat could you please?" Daivat walked out and Anders started tapping shut the boxes while Olivia marked it down on the inspection paperwork. Anders labelled where they came from and what was in each box as he worked. Daivat came back a minute later with a cart and all of the boxes were placed into it, half filling it quickly.

"Why do I think were going to find more of this?" I mumbled as we went through the room.

"Because the pack is sick," Anders said sadly "Ok... On to the next room."

It took all day to search the pack house. By the end of it we had a few silver weapons and a huge amount of illicit drugs, the sheer amount of the stuff was mind boggling. We also found multiple people who were slacking and not doing their tasks, almost all of which demanded why they had to do it when I was the one who used to do them all. They were quickly turned in to Callen and we had rapidly made ourselves unpopular, myself in particular more so than before which I hadn't believed was possible.

The days passed by like that continually from one day to the next. Checking house after house as well as sheds, garages, tree houses and even sandpits. We were thorough but fair, allowing them to explain away some new additions to their belongings such as a new ornament or gravy jug and simply added it to the database. For things that were clearly weapons or dangerous they were given a punishment ranging from fines to lashings depending on the severity and the item taken with no excuses. Drugs were confiscated on the spot and warnings were issued. Usually no more than telling them that they could draw government agents to the community and expose us.

On the third weekend with it only a few weeks to Christmas we had a brake and I went to the shops with Anders to do some gift shopping, parting ways once we got there intending to meet up at the car. I never missed the looks I was given by people walking past me, my involvement with the investigations only making me more hated by some in the community. In the end I ignored them, figuring that if they had nothing to hide, they had nothing to fear or hate me for. It was for their, and their cubs own safety by and large and the innocent ones who truly had nothing to hide, didn't hate me for my involvement.

I got a few things, all fox related. Little items that would undoubtedly give away who it was from when they opened it. I had gotten everything wrapped before returning to the car so they wouldn't be seen when I walked into the house with them. They wouldn't be main gifts, just little bits to fill up stockings for the night before or increase the pile under the tree.

I sighed softly and closed the trunk to the car and smiled to myself as I straightened up. I was looking forward to Christmas this year. I never got anything in the past and wasn't expecting that to change now even with Xander and Randy in my life but I would still be happy for now having them at least. The song 'All I want for Christmas is you' by Mariah Carey came to mind when I thought of that fact and smiled more knowing I was getting just that. Besides, its not the gift that matters, its the thought that counts and as long as I was with him, what more did I need?

It was then I heard a deep growl and when I turned to see its source, all I saw was an orange blur followed by pain and then everything went black with a sharp pain the back of my head.

When I came too I was in some cage with Lien curled up next to me. I groaned and sat up slowly, head throbbing. I was curious why Lien hadn't gone to get help yet seeing as she could just pass through the bars.

"The Cage is Silver," she said with a whimper "I can't leave it either."

"Ah your awake" a voice called out from somewhere in the darkness and I turned to where I thought it was coming from "Good! We wouldn't want you to miss anything now would we?" I gave a whimper as I heard walking and saw my kidnapper come out of the shadows, the name almost struggling to leave my mouth.

"S...Simba?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey there freak," Simba responded coldly looking down on me from where he was "About time you woke up, no wonder you are an Omega, so lazy." I growled softly watching him as he walked around my cage and it was quickly brought to my attention that I was nude except for my underwear.

"What do you think your doing Simba!?" I demanded which caused him to chuckled, the sound sinister enough to put concern into my thoughts and I would have backed away if I could.

"What am I doing...?" he muttered out loudly then suddenly turned towards me jabbing something onto the bars of the cage. I shrieked and flailed as the bars were suddenly electrified but there was nothing I could do to get away from the painful shock from what I now realised, was a cattle prod he had probably stolen from a farm "I'M PUTTING YOU BACK IN YOUR PLACE!"

"You pathetic piece of shit Omega! Did you really think that you would get away from my wrath!?" He growled loudly pulling the device away and leaving me panting and crying softly, tears streaming down my face that I didn't know I had shed "I Lost everything because of you! So now I will take the same from you! At the same time I will remind you that you never should have messed with me! Your superior!" I shivered a little still trying to get over the electrical shock. It's charge dancing across my nerves paralysing me as I watched him pull out a knife this time then plunge it into my mating mark . Both Lien and I screamed and flailed in the cage, the pain cutting deeper than it ever had before.

"Lets see him take you back now!" He taunted twisting the knife in my shoulder and laughed "Enjoying the pain? I do hope you are because I'm enjoying the sounds you are making! You'll be feeling this pain a lot!" I grabbed his hand trying to stop his movements however the damage was already done.

"In here is where you will die you piece of trash, like you should have on that day," Simba said with a smile and pulled the knife free "But not yet! Oh no, I have a lot of pain to deal out for you, for each touch of that whip! You shall get the same only ten fold! Trash like you deserves every bit of it and you will learn to love it before I'm through with you!" I whimpered and slumped against the bars of my cage a hand on the latest stab wound trying to sooth the pain.

He turned and walked over to a table picking something up. I recognised a few of the implements, the silver tools that Shelly was missing and I shuddered trying not to think of what he had planned with them. I clenched tighter at my shoulder trying to stem the bleeding, feeling the familiar feeling of warm blood once more flowing between my fingers.

"I'll give you back to your beloved Alpha and your stupid mate," he said then laughed "Oh what a Christmas gift your dead body will make for them! You will even be in festive green and red!" I gave a growl and then screamed as he jabbed the cage with the shock device again, this time holding it till I passed out.

He continued his torture of me for days. He would stab me, usually in my mark or my arms and legs. If he was bored he would shock me, or beat me, always something different, stripping the flesh on my hip nearly to the bone with one of his onslaughts. It was bitterly cold as Simba was always rugged up and I was left in the tiny, cold metal cage. I wasn't even given a blanket to stay warmish at night.

The one time I requested he provide me something to stay warm, he started heating up the cage itself to high temperatures. This in turn inflicted burns everywhere the metal touched me till it cooled down. He had made sure I would get as many burns as possible by shocking me when I stopped moving to focus the burns on one spot which I tried to do to cauterise a wound.

Broken bones, infected wounds... I lost track of time eventually, one abuse filled day to the next seemed to blur together with the freezing pain filled nights of little sleep. What made him more angry was the fact that that every attempt he made to carve the words back onto my torso failed as the words either healed over or changed shape, possibly due to Callens involvement in removing them the first time.

I was in continual pain, bleeding almost all the time and because the cage was too small I was not able to shift, meaning my wounds had not healed the whole time I was here. They festered and became infected after only a few days. Flies had eventually settled on a couple of my wounds, the new infestation bringing me a greater source of pain and continual discomfort.

Both Lien and I started to grow weak, the floor of our cage filled with blood, urine and excrement which I passed involuntary whenever I was shocked. Simba had mentioned he had no intention of cleaning my cage, as I wouldn't be in it for much longer. Lien rarely moved any more except when the lion was torturing our mating mark. Seeing her squirm in agony seemed to bring him the most joy, often using the prod directly on my mark which meant he could make her 'dance' longer.

"Well it's time to have you fixed," he said one day holding up a silver scalpel in front of his face and testing the sharpness "After all, we don't want YOU to be breeding now do we? So lets remove those unnecessary parts, can't have any of your little freak kits running around can we?" I gave a weak growl mixed with a slight whimper and pulled away from him in the cage.

"Now now, you know that we can't allow you to breed! You're a mutant, so we can't have your freaky genes passing onwards," he reached into the cage to grab me "So come here! It's time to operate! Your best hope for getting out of here with them intact is if you die before I pull them off!" I gave a scream as he grabbed me by the throat and pulled me close. Suddenly there was a loud bang and what I had guessed to be the main doors erupted inwards with such force one even embedded into the cement floor like it was a knife into butter.

Simba suddenly flew away from me, forced against the wall behind me with a loud crash, the scalpel falling against my arm and clattering to the filthy floor of the cage after giving a short cut on my arm. I whimpered loudly watching him struggle against the invisible force then turned to look towards the door, a large familiar form walking in.

"Well well, why am I not surprised to find out you're the one? Just couldn't take your punishment gracefully could we?" Came the loud, very angry and for me, comforting voice of Luce. The air and ground seemed to vibrate and rumble with his anger and the control he was exerting over himself was showing on his face. He clearly was trying not to let his anger get full control of him and unleash his full power on the lion, something that would possibly decimate the building if it happened. "I would say 'typical lion' but normally lions take their beatings with such grace and pride."

"How did you..." Simba growled back angrily.

"Find you? Did you honestly think we wouldn't look for them? If so you really are stupid, I thought I put you through school," I heard Alpha Leo call out and my eyes widened as he appeared next to Luce "It wasn't easy I will admit, you managed to hide all of the scents well but we simply sent up a surveillance web. The whole community took part under council orders which ironically you never heard despite us making the announcement as public as could be. It was a Werecat that found you, the smell of blood, no matter how well you hide the other scents, can't be mistaken or hidden. The council is more powerful than you think, we can do more than just enact laws to the community and now, you've pissed off all of us. Simba... you disgust me and have disgraced our pride."

"NEIL!" Xanders voice rang out and I gave a whimper as I saw him run past them towards me but I stopped him before he could place his hands on the cage.

"S...stop, it's silver..." I told him with a whimper, I noticed that he had bags under his eyes and his face seemed sunken and pale. He also favoured his left arm, obviously he had been suffering the onslaught from Simba on our mating mark as well. He did stop before he touched the cage and took a careful step back and was clearly distressed at my current state, Randy by his side whimpering loudly.

"Betas! Take him away!" Alpha Callen called motioning towards Simba, I looked up to watch as Betas Anders, Daivat, Leon and Kendo stepped forward and grabbed him, of course he started struggling and spewing insults but was quickly gagged by Leon.

"You are lucky I am not allowed to kill you!" Luce said snarling deeply as they passed with him, the building shaking a little more. I whimpered softly seeing Luce so angry and looked up to see Alpha Callen, Alpha Leo, Alpha Isto and Alpha Ramside walk over to my cage.

"Gloves!" Callen called and they pulled gloved out of their pockets and put them on in an almost practised unison.

"Check!" All four of them said then they placed their feet between the rungs of my cage and gripped the top plate "PULL!" They all said in unison. Their muscled bulged and they all pulled in one movement. The top popped free as if it had been the easiest thing in the world for them and as one, threw it to one side with a loud clang as it bounced on the floor a short distance away.

"Neil?" Xander asked watching me as I looked up at them all still in disbelief that they were really here, hoping that this wasn't some cruel nightmare that I would snap out of and wake up with Simba holding my balls in his palm. Callen reached in, gently placed his arms under me and pulled me out helping me to stand carefully in front of him. Free of the the cage I wobbled a little due to my muscles being weak from being couped in the cramped cage as well as the damage from the abuse.

"Neil? My Neil..." Xander asked once more and Callen turned me around to face him. I looked into his eyes fearfully thinking he would reject me now of all times. Even if I did smell of my own piss, blood and more, there, in his grey pools I saw love, worry and a smile on his lips, all of it for me and Lien. Here was my mate, who clearly loved me more than just surface deep and with that thought I suddenly burst into tears then fell against him wailing loudly and uncontrollably.

He simply held me, slowly lowering to the floor with me held tightly in his arms. Everyone watched us except for Alpha Leo who lifted Lien from the cage. She was limp and motionless, seeming to be barely registering anything around her.

"You got them!?" Came Shelly's voice and she approached quickly with a stretcher and medical bag dressed in her doctors scrubs. She passed a space blanket to Xander then stood to one side and watched as he wrapped it around me and continued to try to console me, my head on his shoulder and a hand on my back rubbing circles under the blanket. He lifted me slowly and gently before he sat me on the stretcher, Leo carefully placing Lien onto it next to me and Shelly looked her over.

"What's wrong with her?" Alpha Ramside asked worriedly seeing the fox was virtually catatonic. Shelly held her finger up looking her over then grabbed a wash cloth and rubbed it over my shoulder where the mating mark was after coating it with sterile water. I hissed deeply as she exposed the deep stab wounds and the fact the mark, hell most of the skin in that area was now nearly gone with maggots in it as well.

"Damn it," she mumbled "He did a huge amount of damage to the mark... the mating mark is special, it connects us to our Animals and our mates on a level we can't fully explain... Each time he stabbed this it wasn't just torture to her. This was on a level, mental and physical, we can't begin to fathom and I can't begin to explain right now. Her mind seems to have shut down in an attempt to protect itself I'd guess." I whimpered looking down at her and reached out and pet her gently.

The mark was indeed special to us. The location on the body, in Were medical books, was refereed to as the 'Anchor'. Through it we were connected to our other side, like I was with Lien and Mufasa was to Sama. When we mated and made the mating mark we added our loved ones into that connection, joining our souls as one. Whenever it's injured all four in the relationship, Humans and Animals, share the pain, although it is dulled somewhat to the other mate. When I suffered pain or damage to the mark, Xander and Randy felt it even if it was to a lesser degree.

"There anything we can do?" Xander asked worriedly looking to Shelly "Please... we need her."

"There is something we can try...Neil can you shift for me?" Shelly asked and I did try but gave a soft sigh when I wasn't able to connect with her to request the shift, it was like she wasn't there or she was blocking me out.

"I... I can't" I responded softly and shakily.

"What was that? Neil I need you to shift." She urged having not heard me and I snapped a little in irritation at having been ignored on unheard the first time.

"I said I CAN'T!" I yelled back at her then my eyes went wide as I realised that I had snapped at her in anger. Instantly I started crying again planting my face in Xander's chest "I CAN'T SHIFT! I Can't connect to her at all! I..I..." at this point, I had another breakdown, unable to stop crying into my mates chest and all he could do is hold me. It took me a few minutes before my brain started working again, enough for me to turn to Lien and grab her face in my hands to pull her to be nose to nose with me.

"PLEASE LIEN! TALK TO ME!!" I wailed at her still in tears "Please... Lien...we...I need you... Please...Lien... my Lien...come back to me..." I pulled her close against my chest and continued to cry with her in my arms just saying 'please Lien' over and over again as I rocked a little letting Xander try his best to keep me covered with the space blanket.

"We need to get them back to the pack house..." Callen said "I may have an idea... but we can't do it till we get him cleaned up..."

"Callen, he has heavily infected wounds!" Shelly protested "There are even maggots in several of them! Some of those are close to stage three! We can't just take him to the pack house! I need to operate!" He gave her an angry look and sighed.

"We can do our best back at the pack house... Lien is of bigger importance right now. If we lose her it's game over for not just Neil but Xander and Randy as well!" he responded angrily and started pushing the stretcher out to a waiting van. By time they had me to the open door I had stopped crying as loudly but still had tears streaking down my face and a heavy case of sobs, hiccups and sniffling.

There was a large group of wolves around, seemingly most of the high level war wolves. They all watched as we passed and it surprised me how most of them whimpered along with my crying, concerned at my condition.

"Surprised?" Callen asked with a slight smile as he helped me into the van "They were all concerned, some even saying 'he may only be an omega but he is our omega! Only we get to pick on him!' When I told them you had been kidnapped. While I wasn't overly happy with their choice of words, they all jumped to your rescue."

"You may be a Fox," Anders said from the front passenger seat "But a pack watches over and protects their own. You are our Omega and while that means are the weakest member of our pack, that just means WE need to work twice as hard to protect you." Callen nodded and I noticed that several of the other wolves nodded too.

"You are valuable to our pack Neil, even if the others don't show it or you notice it," Callen said as he closed the door to the van "So we will do everything to keep you in our pack, as our precious Omega." I started to smile a little and nodded, giving a fresh sob over Lien.

The van was a special one, usually only used during war times. It was a former ambulance and they had kept the internal set-up exactly the same. I was laid on the stretcher bed inside, a strap over my chest and legs to keep me secured while, the one at my waist not in place due to my damaged hip. Shelly and Beta Olivia worked around me with Xander and Callen sitting in the seats located at my head while Luce drove. It was marked and painted in a special pattern so anyone who saw it coming gave it right of way like it was a standard ambulance although it wouldn't be recognised outside of the Were community.

Shelly worked diligently, inspecting my wounds, trying to clean up the worse ones, drenching them in antiseptic or saline and so on to try to drown the parasites and kick start the healing process. I was numb to almost everyone around me, only Xander, Luce and Callen seemed to be able to break through to me whenever I needed to answer a question Shelly or Olivia asked me.

They rushed me into the pack house and into my own bathroom, although to this day I still don't know why. I was mildly aware that my room was being guarded by Beta's Leon and Kendo who were outside the door to my room standing watch. I was left in the bathroom with just Shelly and Callen while barely able to stand. I was stripped of my ruined underwear with a skilled slice of a blade by Shelly and placed in the shower with Callen acting as support to keep me standing.

The water was going at a lukewarm temperature already to prevent any shock and to stabilise my low body temperature as gently as they could. They focused mainly on my shoulder and hip where I was wounded the worse but did go over all the other cuts and injuries I had.

"Its a good thing we got to you as quick as we did," Shelly said as she flushed my shoulder out more, a few more maggots washing out of it and down the drain "Eww... Any longer and we wouldn't be able to do this. Sorry I don't have any locals at the moment... I'm surprised your not in any pain." I simply gave a look to her meeting her gaze, my eyes still full of tears and that one look said it all thankfully. I was in pain, a terrible amount of it but I was feeling worse in my heart than she was doing to me with the treatment. She froze, eyes widening in shock before continuing to clean me.

"Ok... I think that's all of him washed," Callen said with a sigh and turned off the shower and stepped me out and wrapped me in a black towel snugly trying to trap in any warmth it could "Shelly... this next bit will be... unconventional... however just keep working on him ok? He shouldn't need any anaesthetic, Anders and Olivia will get you anything you need." She nodded and followed us out to the bedroom and he sat me on the bed gently. As he covered my crotch to help maintain some level of modesty or dignity I still had, I noticed Anders was with Luce comforting Randy while Ruban was comforting Xander with Yelas, Barrun and Culem. The room was pleasingly warm, the fire blazing away in its place filling the room with its heat and Olivia was adjusting it with the metal poker so it would give off more.

There was a metal cart next to the bed piled high with antiseptics, Gloves, gauze, bandages, syringes, bottles of saline, kidney bowels, a few bags of blood in what I could only guess was my type and more that I didn't recognise. Clearly Shelly was ready for almost any condition I would be in when I had gotten here.

"Ok, Luce, Xander, Randy come here," Callen said as he placed Lien on my lap "Anders, Olivia, If Shelly asks for it, get it, you're her assistants. Shelly, do what you need to to medicate him as much as you can, Luce... we're going to... perform a commune."

"Callen, I must protest!" Luce warned with mild anger and alarm "A Commune hasn't been done in years! And even then only Alphas are supposed to do them! With Neil in his condition..."

"What choice do we have?" He asked turning to regard the Sigma with an irritated growl "It's this or lose her!"

"Neil deserves to know at least what your planning, this is dangerous! The bodily energy requirements needed alone could kill them, especially right now." Luce finally said and Callen gave a defeated sigh and nodded turning back to me.

"Ok Neil, here is what's going to happen, we are going to do a commune," he started slowly "A commune is where a Were goes the other way with their shift."

"What do you mean?" I asked more than a little confused.

"Instead of Lien going into your mind when you shift, this is you going into hers thankfully no shifting is needed," he said and chuckled when he saw my tired confusion "Trust me, it isn't something that I can explain with ease. All you need to know is it should help you get her back, hopefully. It can be dangerous, very dangerous but that is why we have Luce here, he can hopefully mediate the connection and help keep it stable. We will be giving you a drop of his blood as well, that will allow him to feed you energy if needed because you are so weak." I nodded and Luce gave a huff.

"Be aware, I can not influence this in anyway, even though Culem will be there all we can do is communicate with you and guide you, understand? Culem and I can only act as your guide through this. Our role is simply to provide the energy needed to do the commune. However some of her 'demons' may try to turn on you." He said and I nodded slowly.

"What is Xander needed for?" I asked looking to my mate and he smiled and kissed my hand gently but was lightly smacked away by Shelly playfully.

"He is your 'anchor'," Callen said with a smile and pet the top of my head "You need him to find your way back out if you get lost. He is also your defence, think of him as your shining light and that will fend off her inner demons and mental defences... for a while at least. To come out, for any reason other than you found her, just think back to the love you share with Xander and Randy, and that will guide you back to us ok?" I nodded and gave Xander a kiss before flinching as Shelly fished an embedded maggot out of my shoulder and she mouthed 'sorry' before flushing the wound with more saline and wiped it down with a gauze sponge.

"What do I need to do?" I asked and Callen moved so Luce could sit in front of me on the bed. He placed my hands crossed on Liens back and closed my eyes then placed one hand on my hands and the other on my fore head. I hadn't seen him take a sample of Luce's blood but with the aid of Shelly, it was injected painlessly into my own bloodstream.

"Just relax, and think of her, think of what she is like, happy, bubbly and adventurous. Of how it feels to be in full form, just think of how happy she was when you both found Xander and I'll do the rest." I nodded slowly listening to Luce.

It took only a few minutes then for a minute I could feel myself falling till suddenly I was standing... in the middle of a field. It was quite empty with a few trees dotted around the edges. Past that was a grey fog that seemed to be so thick it was like a curtain that cut everything else past that out. Bellow my bare feet was thick lush flower filled grass and while there was no sun in the sky, I could feel a warmth radiating down onto me from above. I had no injuries any more, my skin smooth and untarnished although I was left in only a loincloth.

It was then I noticed Luce or more so, Culem was sitting not too far away watching me. His tail wagging slightly and the 'wind' gently blowing through his fur and over a pair of black wings on his back which surprised me a little. However as he sat there and purred softly, his presence calmed me more than his appearance disturbed me.

"Culem?" I asked turning to look at him "Where are we?"

"Why are you asking me?" He asked with a chuckle "This is Liens inner world, her mind scape if you will. If I had to guess however, I would say this is where she keeps her thoughts of you."

"Really?" I asked looking around for a moment "Kinda roomy ain't it?" he chuckled and shook his head.

"Take a closer look kit, it's full to bursting! The warm light of love radiating down, lush and full of life, the gentle cooling breeze to make it all move and shine. If anything she thinks extremely highly of you, just as I do of Luce and Lacen thinks of Callen but this is not where she is keeping herself couped up sadly... I can just barely sense that she is much deeper, down where she keeps her... darker and deeper thoughts and secrets. Down bellow where she keeps Randy and Xander."

"Really? She keeps them deeper than me?" I asked mildly insulted that my own animal side is keeping me on the surface and not down closer to her heart.

"Don't think of it that way," he said with a purr and chuckle "For you to be at the surface, means she keeps her love for you exposed for all to see. She loves you just as much but is more willing, or is trying desperately, to show it right now, to show you that she still loves you and is thinking of you. The Commune thankfully filters out unnecessary information and translates it all into a way you can understand. It will however reflect a lot of what has been on your and her mind lately as well, so consider this a forewarning. You may encounter painful things to see." I nodded and slowly turned around.

"Well I guess any direction is a step forward" I mumbled and started walking in a random direction, Culem following me like Lien did when I would walk to school. As I walked I took in everything realising just how much she loved me. The field was full of bright flowers and bees buzzing from place to place. It was like I was really outside walking through a flower field that was so well maintained. I hesitated by the trees once I got to the edge of the field, peeking into the thick fog that seemed to mist around them and it all looked dark and imposing.

"Be not afraid," The leopard called from behind me "Nothing here can hurt you as long as you remember you have Randy and Xander. Frighten you? Yes. Disturb or upset you? Absolutely. However you have your love to protect you. Everything you see will help you understand what is troubling her more and help you understand your own animal on a more personal level that other Weres could only imagine even if this is only a quick trip. Only a few Alpha's in my time have ever done this and it has made them better people for it... you even know one of them, Mufasa." I nodded still eyeing the fog although I wasn't surprised that Alpha Leo had gone through this once. He was so in touch with his animal, with his pride and other Weres around the community.

"I guess its just a curtain to hide her deeper thoughts, like the mask of smiles I once wore to hide my own pain." I mumbled as I waved my hand through the mist before I made my way into it. It was indeed thick and I quickly loss sight of anything in front of me or Culem behind me but his almost continuous soft purring let me know he was there. I tried to not wave my hands in front of me as I continued, thinking it was a bit too stereotypical. I managed to stumble through to a sight I didn't want to see really and it brought back pained memories.

It was in a school room and I was was in a cage although all the details of the room were fuzzy. A monstrous Simba was over me torturing me and he was surrounded by the others of the Leo pride cubs. I quickly noticed something that was slightly off though, he was dumping dirt onto me, something he hadn't done, well... not since my third year of schooling and the others were pointing and laughing.

I passed by quickly getting the idea of what this was about, Simba had been my tormentor for years and the cage, to her, represented the fact I had been trapped in that position for the whole time. Stuck somewhere I couldn't get out of because of Alpha Smith's terrible treatment towards me. The rest of the community following their leaders example. Opening the door on the other side of the room I was blinded by a bright light which was omnipresent and continued for as long as the fog had. As I finally passed through it. I was blinded for a bit before I was greeted by a new sight which actually filled my heart with warmth and made me smile.

There we were, Xander and I on the bed, both in mid form, naked and laying on top of the sheets with Xander pressed up against my side. The room was as beautiful here as it was in the outside world, a fire burning merrily and warmly in the fireplace. Upon the bed, my belly was large and domed, rounded healthily with growing life. My two breasts swollen with milk which only made me seem to appreciate them more than I ever had before although I also had more smaller ones dotted down my torso and belly. Both forms were lovingly rubbing that bulging belly staring lovingly at each other as they or rather, we, caressed the dome.

"I see she wants pups at some stage." Culem said walking up behind me and sat down, watching as I approached the bed seeing the two of us snuggling so closely together. Nuzzling, licking and kissing while lovingly rubbing my bulging belly, the two forms on the bed took notice of us yet continued their happy beaming smiles and attention to each other. I nodded to Culem and gave a soft sigh as I watched the scene of pure love.

"Yeah, she has been pushing for them since we met Xander but... I'm just not ready for them yet," I answered slowly with a frown "I want them just as much as she does and can't wait to have them and have them curled up against my chest but..."

"Just not yet." Culem finished nodding. I stayed and watched for some time, even reaching out and rubbing my mirrors belly, feeling my own soft fur and the occasional kick or movement from bellow the taught skin and fur. My copy even looked to me and mouthed 'don't know what your missing' as I rubbed. I wanted kits so bad... but with the treatment that I was still getting from the pack, I didn't want to put my own kits through it till it had all been stopped. If they went through that torment because they were my kits, it would break my heart.

"We should move on," Culem said with a mild warning in his voice "If we linger we may get stuck." I sighed and nodded turning and walking to the stairs and walked out of the room after giving one last look back. It took some time to get down the seemingly continuous stairs to the next door. The stairs even turning and almost becoming maze like with corners and dead ends as I descended. Once I was in the next room though, I understood perfectly why it took so long.

Again I was in a cage, this time it all looked like a super hero movie, with so many people around tormenting me, and there was Lien, trying to break through the crowd in our hybrid form. I knew this wasn't the deepest part, that there was more to come but still this part almost broke my heart.

"I don't understand." Culem said looking around seeing the almost dancing, taunting forms which kept the vixen at bay.

"It's quite simple," I said wiping a slowly developing tear from my eye "All these years I have been tormented and she has been screaming and yelling at me to stay positive and that no matter what, I always had her. She was always with me, even when everyone else was against me. We always had each other... this is her fight against the times I've ignored her in the darkest of times..." He nodded slowly and we continued on, neither of us missing that at the front of the angry mob, was the long time tormentors, Simba and the late Alpha Smith.

Several of the forms, the black featureless shadows that they looked like to me, with bright red eyes full of malice. Turned and saw me then charged, it was almost instinct for me to think of Xander and Randy to save me, even Callen and Lacen and there was a bright flash and cheesily, a ray from above, cutting through the gloom and they vanished as it touched them.

"Well executed," Culem said with a smile and his tail wagged "Better than I've seen any alpha who I have assisted with their communes... even Alpha Leo was mobbed and had to retreat on his first time." I blushed and nodded not wanting to admit that it was a reflex and unintentional before heading towards the, once again, black fog that encircled the area quickly. I didn't want to stop now, even if we had nearly been attacked. I had to keep going... for Lien.

The black fog blinded me as it had the last time as I stumbled through it into a deep pit of mud which was up to my knees, Culem walking atop it like it was solid floor. The mud had started while we were in the mist but I pushed on regardless. It would take more than mud and shadowy nightmare creatures to stop me.

The next room was basically our idolisation of Culem and Lacen. How we put them on a plinth and held them aloft out of the mud and even though we were covered in mud from keeping him clean, we were happy. In the centre of the room was a pillar with Lacen atop, myself and Lien down in the mud in hybrid form, holding the pillar up high and Culem seemed a little upset he wasn't up there too.

"He has what we've always wanted," I told him with a smile looking up to them "Respect and love from all, strength, intelligence... everything I don't have. He has always been there for me even if I never noticed... I guess Lien did. In a way, we always tried to keep him and you out of our mess of a life."

"I see... but you do have respect from him, and intelligence that matches his own." Culem said with a smile and I sighed.

"Explain why I fail every test then?" I said looking back at the feline "Every report, every exam, every quiz... even if I know it is the correct answer... apparently I fail every time."

"That's because the teachers are ass holes, we are fixing that," Culem answered with a soft growl and flick of his tail "We have been going over the last ten years of your schooling... you should have been a straight-A student so far. Even when you gave answers that looked like you had given up trying."

"So basically," I said slowly looking back at him "They have had it in for me for years?... like I had always suspected and tried to point out to those around me..." He nodded and I gave a sigh then started towards the other side of the room. He followed me although begrudgingly through the mud and up a drain pipe towards the next scene. It was slippery, difficult going as it was constantly running with mud that flowed back towards the previous place and I slipped several times because I was starting to feel my exhaustion feeding through from my body.

The next room was where I found her, I knew she was the real one, subtle hints around the room told me I had reached the deepest part of the mind scape. There was no border, it seemed to just cut to black around the edges. She sat in the middle of the room, Simba and former Alpha Smith was above pouring mud onto her that then flowed down the drain we had just come up and randy sitting in front of her and wouldn't look at her. Facing away, the other fox had his nose raised almost snobbishly. As we entered Randy took one look at us then looked at Lien who looked up to him hopefully.

"No...no... I don't want you any more, You're dirty! You let that lion taint and torture you and Neil! You're revolting, your pathetic, how can I ever trust you to take care of us or our kits?!" Was all Randy said before turning away from her again. In a heartbeat I had rushed forward and grabbed her in my arms and held her close. There was another flash of light as I thought of the real Randy and Xander, who would NEVER say such things. The illusions vanished just as before but the light never faded as if I was trying to bathe her in it.

"No matter what," I said slowly holding her head against my neck tears and sobs starting to come from me "You will never be too dirty for me, for Randy or Xander, Callen or Lacen, Luce and Culem." I smiled and kissed the top of her head as tears came down my face.

"We are here risking everything to get you back Lien," I added and brushed at her fur, now clear of mud and then looked into her blue and orange eyes "Lien... I need you...I can't live without you... and neither can Randy and Xander. We will fix everything that is wrong in our lives... with how the community treats us. Yes we will have kits one day soon, do not fret about that... till then, we have all the time in the world to find out just how much he loves us and to find out more about him, we still only just met remember?...so please, come back to us... to me."

"But I..." she started and I shook my head and hugged her a bit tighter.

"You don't have anything to apologise for," I said firmly stopping what would have been a self depreciating statement "You couldn't have saved us from Simba this time but if you hadn't been there, I would have succumbed to it all long ago regardless of the abuse they dealt me... I love you Lien, your the only family I have." I smiled and gave her a kiss and she chuckled softly.

"You know that means you love yourself by extension... " she said starting to show her true self again and Culem chuckled.

"It is not wrong to love ones self, it is wrong to love yourself more than anything else however like a certain lion does," Culem said with a smile and walked over "Please come back with us Lien... I miss your smile and the pranks we pull on Callen aren't the same without you there to laugh with me."

"You need to come out of your room to see them first!" She protested and he rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"True... please?" He pleaded and she hesitated.

"Randy misses you... and is worried about you." I said and she frowned

"I'll need to think about it." she said sadly showing she clearly didn't want to think about it and stay couped up in here and I nodded.

"Ok... we will let you do that," I said and looked at an imaginary watch on my wrist then back to her only pausing for a second "So thought about it? Lacen wants to use you as a pillow."

"He What!? I'm gonna gnaw his legs off!" She said irritably and jumped up. As she finished speaking everything started to fade to black "Neil... Thank you." was the last thing I heard before I was numb to everything.

I woke up to feel Liens paws on my chest and my body aching as it usually seemed to do for most of my life. I was warm and comfortable at least, a welcome change to how it had been in the cage.

"Open your eyes Neil." I heard Lien say and then felt her lick at my face. I gave a slow, drawn out groan in response.

"Randy, can you go out and tell Alpha and Shelly that Neil is awake please?" I heard Xander say. The weight lifted off of my chest then sensed Xander over me "Hey love, think you can open your eyes for me?" I tried a nod, cracking my eyes a little but was immediately blinded gave a groan and shook my head slowly.

"T...too bright..." I groaned slowly when I did manage to crack my eye open a little bit.

"Ah ok sorry... Lets try this," I heard the 'shink' of Xander closing the curtains then he came back over and I felt his hand gently rub on my forehead and through my hair "Try now, nice and slow love" I groaned again and yet again tried to open my eyes. It was darker than I expected but I was still sensitive to the light, dim though it may have been it still brought me some discomfort. The fire was the only thing lighting the room, the curtains drawn over the window and hovering over me was the almost angelic face of my mate.

"Thirsty..." I groaned out next and Xander disappeared for a moment. Lien was laying next to me and her tail started wagging as I managed to look over at her. I noticed I was in the middle of the bed and was curious where Xander had been sleeping. My answer was presented when I noticed my basket had been moved to a chair to face the bed.

"Here love, Small sips." Xander said returning and offered me a glass of water. I took small sips of it before trying to sit up as the door opened.

"Don't get up yet." Came Shelly's voice from the doorway and I gave another groan in reply and dropped back to the pillows to which Xander chuckled. Callen was with her and they approached slowly. Shelly was all over me as soon as she was next to the bed, checking over my bandages with a torch trying to keep the lighting dim because my eyes were sensitive to it still.

"Your shoulder was in really bad condition," she warned "As well as your hip I had to use stitches on them, Simba did a really bad number on them, seems he took out all his anger on your shoulder more than the rest of you. The commune also took a lot out of you... you've been unconscious for three days."

"He was about to make me into a eunuch before you guys showed up," I said with a mild yelp as she was a little rougher with my shoulder possibly out of mild irritation or shock at the statement "oww... gentle please."

"We are still working on how he got his paws on the tools," Callen said grumpily "Sadly even his own father cant get the info out of him"

"Luce is on that now," came Alpha Leos voice from the doorway "We have gained council consent to break D-17 under the clause of Community security."

"Urgh, more paperwork," Callen said rolling his eyes "I cant believe he is able to resist you of all people."

"Well he won't be able to resist Luce no matter how hard he tries. We are still deliberating the punishment," Alpha Leo said walking towards me and looked to Callen "We understand why you aren't in on council meetings as well at the moment, Neil is more important but we will need you for this soon." I felt myself blush as I looked at the large male who looked back down at me with a smile on his face. He reached down and gently rubbed at my cheek before being shooed by Shelly.

"Hey there puppy, how you feeling?" Alpha Leo asked looking into my eyes and continued to smile warmly almost fatherly, something I had not gotten from anyone else before.

"About as good as can be expected," I answered weakly with a soft chuckle "All things considered... your son really..." Alpha Leo stopped me by raising his hand.

"He nearly killed you and I am ashamed I never saw it coming," he said frowning "And while it may not help any, please accept my deepest apologies for his actions." I gave a nod and slight smile in his direction trying to tell him I accepted his apology but wasn't able to do much else as Shelly was inspecting my jaw.

"Ok, I think we are all set," Shelly said before I could tell him he had nothing to be sorry for "Neil, Lien, you need to shift to full form, hold it for ten seconds, then shift back to human. It will make you tired again but it should close most of these wounds. I will give you a shot of adrenaline once your done, extreme yes but you will need to stay awake, you need to eat something, a drip can't substitute food forever." I nodded and shifted to lay my hand out on the bed, Lien quickly laying over my arm.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, feeling the pull quickly and felt my body change almost gracefully from human, to mid, to full form in only a few seconds and counted to ten.

The change back was just as easy and smooth but when we finally separated we were left panting from the exertion feeling tired and weak even more than when I had woken up. Shelly checked me over again, inspecting the wounds closely and with her expert eye. Most had closed, including the wound on my shoulder but both she and I could tell there was still a lot of damage under the skin.

"Ok, from what I can tell..." she said softly "You are good to go however a few rules for now. One, No mating bite till after Christmas, I know you want to restore it but the area is still badly damaged. Two, I can't stop you and Randy from being Ruban's personal guards during the next hunt, which is coming up soon but in regards to what you did last time... don't. Your body couldn't handle another assault like that so soon. Lastly, don't do a large amount of shifting, stay in one form or another for a whole day, again till after Christmas. This is to give Lien a rest, the last weeks events and the commune took an insane amount out of you two. I had to put you on a drip to get your fluids up and added a large amount of vitamins and minerals because of it." I nodded and she smiled as she stood up before pulling out an injection and injected it into my arm.

"If it comes to it, Randy can do the fighting," Calen said with a smile "I've been training him personally while you've been missing seeing as he wasn't sleeping." Xander nodded and smiled flexing one of his arms making everyone chuckle.

"For today, rest here, don't go out and if you leave the bed you don't go any further than this floor, meaning the top floor of the pack house ok?" I nodded again before she turned to look at Xander "Keep an eye on them, remember what we talked about, you have my number if anything comes up, no sex for two days!" Xander nodded and she walked out, spouting something about needing to keep the prisoner alive, I didn't really catch it as I fell back into a light slumber not long after with Lien and Randy resting their heads on my chest as Xander went to get me food.


	11. Chapter 11

It was a few days later that I was permitted to leave my bed, with strict 'take it easy' instructions and more painkillers to consume as I finish healing. While in the bedroom I spent as much time as I could in mid or full form and Randy and Xander didn't mind one bit, often pulling me onto his lap when I was in full form.

I was forced to favour my left arm, my right being weakened due to the damage to my shoulder. I also had to be careful with my hip being so impaired as well so I tended to be slow when walking around. Lien was still irritated that we couldn't have Xander and Randy remake the mating mark but she understood that we needed to heal or it would just hurt and not feel good in any way. She was at least sated by the gentle, yet athletic 'sleep' we had the first night we were able to and we stayed tied together till the morning.

After a few days I got bored of being stuck in the house and decided to go back to the task I had been given before the kidnapping and torture by Simba. With the Betas having been called off temporarily to focus on the hunt for Lien and myself, they were able to return to the task of hunting for illegal silver around the town. Although I was being kept a close eye on by Anders, from a distance occasionally I caught a glimpse of Xander or Callen on the street doing the same. I kept a positive attitude and remained as friendly as I could be with the people we went to investigate.

The Betas had been surprised that I had been so willing and positive, while so badly injured, to continue with the project to find the dangerous silver hidden throughout the community. I did manage to assist with a lot of it, staying with the home owners, usually the Luna of that household. They would act insulted that I was so close to them or was in their home in the first place but usually would go silent about it when given an angry look by one of the Betas.

Somehow we managed to finish searching every home in the town well before Christmas. There was still some places, such as businesses, to search before we were fully finished with the whole project. We had found a huge amount of silver weapons that had been somehow smuggled into town, a large percentage of them found in the possession of people in my age group. However, we were taking an official break as the Alphas and Betas decided I needed to be as healed as possible before we continued. As a result I was able to go off to do shopping for more gifts now, although I was usually under Anders or Luce's watchful and protective eye.

With the fact I had easy access to the attic space in my full form, able to simply trot in through the small door, I was able to hide the gifts that I bought. Even if I did have them wrapped before I got them to the car. Thankfully, the car that I had packed stuff into just before I was abducted had been driven by Anders. He had wanted to go do some shopping to get some gifts for Shelly, so, after a small bit of asking and bribing, Lurch had permitted me to accompany him. As a result everything had been safely tucked away in the trunk and thanks to Anders keeping the cars cargo secret, I had managed to hide it once I was out of bed. Although I still needed to wait till Xander was out at the training grounds again with Callen and not fussing over me any more.

Xander and Randy went training almost daily, even if Callen and Lacen weren't always the trainers. However there had only been one incident so far that they had to report to me. It had upset me greatly when he had been insulted and turned on for simply being my mate by some of the new trainees, fresh out of school and full of piss and vinegar. Randy had, however, proved that he was more than capable of defending himself and me even if he was a new Were.

He had, with what Callen said was relative ease, managed to take them all out in the sparing pit and even managed to hold his own in a spar with Callen, for a while at least. Age and skill did win out however and Callen did defeat him but he praised him for doing so well. Alpha's always had superior strength and stamina than almost anyone else in the pack but my boys gave his stamina a run for its money.

When he wasn't training, Xander was with others in the kitchen or with Luce cleaning as that's what was down on the work roster for him to do. He didn't need help from Luce to do cleaning of course or vice versa but he was learning from Luce all about our society and how and why we stayed secret. He was also learning what was expected of him as my mate, a future father, as a member of this pack and as a Fox in said Wolf pack.

I personally was still off of the work roster for tasks around the house, my name marked down as still being on a 'Council project' with the Betas till the job of hunting the Silver trade routes was done. Now that we were on a break, this give me the option of going out for shopping which Luce was more than happy to assist me with, on the provision he got more decorations. The house and garden was now decorated festively and he seemed to be only wanting to make it more gaudy. He did explain however in the car rides, that the new decorations were going to be used for the Christmas feast in the back yard that would be after the Eve hunt.

Shopping for Callen, Ruben, Luce and Xander was difficult as I wasn't sure what I should get but I managed somehow. I had been able to get ideas from just walking around the shops and seeing specials going on in some stores. After much 'umming' and 'arring' about prices, I gave up on worrying over price as I was sure I had more than enough.

I had remembered that Xander said he wanted to get his ears pierced so I got a voucher from the best place in town to get it done for him. I had also found a jewellers that I could have a set of stud earrings to be custom made for him. One white gold and one orange gold both in the shape of a foxes head with a bushy tail below it. They both had topazes set into the eyes and a pear cut diamond in the tail, although one of the eyes on the orange gold fox was a sapphire. They may be too flashy or 'bling' for him to wear all the time but that didn't bother me. We had a mantle he could display them on in the bedroom if that's all he ever did with them.

I had also gotten a Snow-leopard Statuette cast in silver for Luce. It was hard to get, having to negotiate with Alpha Leo to have council permission to have it specially smelted, crafted and registered. Alpha Leo had managed to talk to the other members and they did decide to use the confiscated silver to craft it, smelting down all of the former weapons to craft it. They would never hurt anyone again now.

They had actually given me the silver for free to use, Alpha Leo delivering it to the jewellers personally, so that saved a large amount of money for me. The figure was sitting in a regal pose with its tail curled around its feet. I had even splurged a little more and gotten blue Apatite for the eyes to mimic Luce's and Onyx for the black spots.

For Ruben, I got several bits and pieces, little wolf or fox figurines and plush toys. I was taking random guesses at what I was going to get for him sadly, as I didn't really know him all that well but hoped he would like what I got. It may seem odd that I was getting stuff for my Alpha's mate but to me, it was a way of showing my appreciation for him being there during my darker times and also as my full acceptance as him as my Luna.

For Callen I had spent just as much as I did on the others but took it more... personally. I went to a pottery workshop located at the edge of town and started work on a special statuette for him. It was a statue of a wolf curled protectively next to what was originally, another, slightly smaller wolf but I decorated it to be a fox. I had decided to not use the glaze paints that would normally be used and took a more unique direction.

I managed to get my hands on gold leaf and, using it carefully, I decorated the fox with it. While for the wolf I used white gold leaf which had been hard to find. Silver leaf would have been too hard to get hold of, having to go through the council to get what I needed. I used the white gold also on the foxes white parts as I had more than enough to do so. I took my time doing it. Carefully painting a reflective black onto the claws and the noses and a low gloss black onto the tips of the foxes ears. Painting blue eyes on the wolf and one blue and one brown on the fox so hopefully it would give the impression it was Lacen and Lien.

I paid attention to detail on the grass that was underneath them, adding a lush green and even adding some darker greens to give contrasts and shadows and painted the flowers with a soft white and yellow to make them look like little daises.

It had been a Labour of love and I did the best I could to get it looking like there was a silky smooth fur made out of the delicate metals on it. By the time I was finished though, I was more than happy with the result and I carefully boxed it up and wrapped it. I labelled it like the others then hid it in the attic space with the growing collection. In the end everything had cost me a small fortune but with the amount I had in my account, cost didn't bother me that much. This year I would finally be able to give people something and that meant more to me than the money ever would.

I decided after sealing away my latest treasure I would clean the room and maybe try to decorate a bit better. It was a bit of a mess, Xander wasn't the cleanest of guys and while I didn't mind the sweaty musk he had when he came back from training, he was usually so tired that he would just dump his clothes on the floor, shower and then go to bed. Those on cleaning duty were supposed to clean the room and do the washing. However nine times out of ten they still avoided our room, even after multiple occasions of being scolded and punished by Callen.

Callen was fitting in well being a full time Alpha and head of the council. He was usually busy a lot of the time with paper work or council business but he tried to make as much time as he could for Ruban or solving general problems around the pack house. He did on occasion have Alpha Leo, Mclaughlan, or Isto assisting him when he needed it. Seeing as he was still considered to be very young by all standards for the position he was in. However the others had little issue helping to get him up to speed with what he needed to become the Alpha he was born to be.

I collected the clothes scattered around the room and placed them into the laundry bag with our name on it and pushed it down the laundry shoot out in the hall. If it didn't come back I would need to tell Callen again, just like last time they hadn't even touched our laundry. I headed back into the room and stripped the bed of its sheets and after putting them into another laundry bag, pushed them down the shoot as well.

I decided to go get the vacuum to clean the floors so I headed down to the broom closet which was down next to the laundry. The closet was more of a room due to just how many products were needed to clean the pack house from top to bottom. Every tool imaginable for cleaning the massive pack house building was in this room including all of the chemicals. The smell was a heady, potent concoction of all the different cleaning products but my years of practically having this as a second room gave me an immunity to the smell.

I could hear grumbling from several women inside the laundry room at our belongings have just arrived but I decided to ignore it. If they didn't do their job, they would get punished again simple as that. Callen was sick of dealing with the animosity that was directed towards Xander and myself. He was so irritated by of fact that according to Anders, he was going to contend it at the next mass feast.

Heading back from the storage closet I was watched by multiple people with distaste and hostility, mainly the women who were cleaning. The men didn't offer those looks as often but I guess even after the show of such support from them with the whole kidnapping incident, things weren't going to change easily. I stopped when I heard, what sounded like someone falling to the floor with a mild scream followed by some calls for help coming from the 'Family Room'.

Dragging the Vacuum with me I quickly dashed to see what was going on as, at least for me, a call for help was more important than any current task I was doing. I knocked on the door before opening it and looked around to see who was inside and had called out in distress.

The room wasn't huge but it was reasonable, there was a plush white carpet that covered the floor and a, ridiculously comfortable looking 'U' shaped sofa that sat near the centre of the room. It faced a large fireplace containing a softly smouldering fire that was still warming the room and the contrast of heat inside the room against the snowy yard outside was almost tangible. The yard outside the window had been shovelled, badly shovelled if I was being honest but shovelled at any rate.

A royal blue rug with purple, red and gold weaved into patterns on it sat between the lounge and the fireplace with a glass coffee table on top of the rug. A TV was bolted to the wall above the fireplace but it had been chosen carefully to be the same width as the fireplace bellow it so it didn't dominate the room. Hanging on the walls around the room were pictures and paintings of the former Alpha families that had run the community, with Wolves being the most prominent species amongst them.

In the corner between the fireplace and the window outside was a large tree that was decorated with a surprising amount of taste and elegance. The only thing missing was the star or angel to sit on top and the top needed a little more attention as it was a bit sparse. There were four stockings on the mantle piece and various decorations on the table and mantle from snow globes to tiny glass trees with baubles. As a centre piece for the table, a candle holder that had holly, miniature snow covered pine cones and berries on it.

Up around the cornices was a long trail of fake fir garland that had a myriad of colourful and festive objects in it. It clearly was a speciality item as it was one continuous line like tinsel that started from one corner of the room and continued around, dipping occasionally with a large red bow at the middle of the dips and where it was connected to the wall. It didn't end where it began though and instead ended up leading down to Luna Ruben on the floor, thankfully not near the fire.

"Oh... Hey Neil." He said looking mildly embarrassed and I couldn't hide the soft smile to him with my tail picking up a quick wag. Lien inside my mind was clearly happy that Luna Ruban remembered our name and although he was embarrassed, was greeting us like a long standing friend. He unfortunately looked to be in a bit of discomfort and was rubbing irritably at his injured leg, a chair next to him that he clearly had been standing on to reach the ceiling and I was surprised he hadn't injured himself worse with his fall.

"Luna Ruben... did you call for help? Are you ok?" I ask softly and he nodded causing me to blush softly laying my ears back against my head, my tail stopped its wag "I...umm... I can't come in without permission from Alpha Callen... I'll go get him..." I turned to leave a bit saddened that I wasn't permitted to enter but the family room was for the Community Alpha family only. Before I could take more than one step however he called out to stop me.

"N...No wait! Come in, please, I just... I was told that this room was up to Callen and I to decorate..." he said as I turned and slowly stepped into the room towards him feeling the soft, thick, lush carpeting bellow my paw-pads "I was hoping I could get it done before he came back from training so I could surprise him... I even had Luce take me to get special decorations for it... but I struggle to reach the roof or high places with... well this." he motioned to his leg with the pink cast on it a little irritably and I nodded understanding as I approached. Once I got close to him and leaned down next to him I gave a soft sigh and helped untangle him from the mass of artificial plant that he was covered in.

"I can't lift you at the moment Luna... I'm sorry... but I can help you up and onto the lounge." I told him and reached out to him letting him take my hand. My tail waged as I pulled him up onto his one good leg and helped him hop to the large luxurious sofa. Once he sat down he give an audible sigh looking around the room.

"I...I'm sorry if I worried you." he said scratching at his arm nervously showing off the scars from self harming that was evident on his wrists. It was painful to see them and imagine what had pushed him so far to break him to the point that self harm or suicide were his only option.

"Well compared to what I've done and been through... I'm sure I'm the one who should be sorry for worrying you with all of that," I told him with a chuckle making light of the kidnapping and looked around the room tail wagging a little "You've done well so far on your own, better than I've done in our room."

"Well... would you be willing to help me?" he asked softly and my head snapped to look at him with shock, ears forward and alert "I'll help you with your room once were done here, sound good?" He wanted me to help him decorate the family room? It was against the rules... the traditions... but this was a request from my Luna, how could I possibly say no? I was bound by pack rules and laws that I had to help and follow any requests or demands set to me. At the same time, it was an honour to be asked to help inside the family room and most others would jump at the chance.

"Y...You want my help? In here?" I asked as my ears flatten against my head once more "A...are you sure Luna?" he gave a soft groan and rolled his eyes then nodded.

"Yes I'm sure, I really need the help," he said with a smile "And it's Ruben, not Luna... I get what role I'm supposed to fulfil in the pack but please... Ruben, not Luna, or Alpha... at least not from you of all people... we're closer than that aren't we?" I gave a slight whimper at the rebuttal but despite of it my tail wagged making him smile.

"All that is left is putting the last of garland up and the topper on the tree," he adds with a smile "Then cleaning the floor of the tinsel and glitter that was dropped." I nodded and pointed to the vacuum outside the door.

"If I get the stuff hanging, think you can suck the floor while I do?" I asked him and he nodded with another smile "Just lean on the wall or couch as you do... if you need to stop don't be afraid to do so." he nodded once more and I brought the device in and plugged it in for him.

Helping him to stand up again, I made sure he was ok on his own before I gathered up the garland and climbed up onto the chair to finish what he had been doing. Lien freaked a little and I gave a soft yelp when the vacuum turned on behind me, my tail tucking and ears dropping. It took a moment for me to get control back and calm Lien but went straight back to decorating as soon as I was calm once more. Trying to not join Ruben in giggling at my reaction to the loud machine being turned on.

My tail wagged happily as I hung the decorations, once or twice hitting Ruben in the face making him laugh and swat at the offending limb playfully. Once I finished he gave me permission to cut the rest of the cord of garland off, leaving quite a bit left for use elsewhere if need be. He directed me on how he wanted the ornaments hung on the top of the tree and once he was satisfied, he handed me the 'angel' for the top of the tree. It looked almost like a wolf version of Luce in his mid form, holding a large star above its head with its tail acting as a coil to wrap around the top of the tree to hold it in place.

"I'm guessing you want to keep all of this a secret?" I asked him as I unplugged the vacuum and coiled up the cord. He nodded with a smile now sitting again on the couch "Ok, We'll get you out onto the chair in the hall and have Beta Anders carry you up to my room as I can't... as much as I'd like to." I took the cleaner out to the hall and sat it next to said chair then walked back in to help him limp out to it as well. I only closed the door once I had gathered all the boxes of leftover decorations from inside, the trash boxes placed on the fire to be destroyed.

"Ok, wait here, I'll be back once I find Anders ok?" I said and he smiled nodding again.

"Thank you, you two." he said as I started to walk off making my tail wag quickly behind me as he had obviously been referring to Lien as well as myself. Finding Beta Anders was difficult, no one wanted to answer me even when I told them that I was looking on behalf of Luna Ruben. One or two of them even accused me of lying and that I should stop being a pitiful excuse for an Omega by disgracing the pack with my lies.

I did eventually find him outside training the new trainees, Xander was in the forest apparently, doing hunting training with Alpha Callen so sadly I didn't get a chance to see him. I had changed back to being human to go outside. A force of habit from Alpha Smith not letting anyone outside in anything but human form, even if the yard had high enough fences that no one could see in at the training taking place. As I walked over to the tall Beta I wasn't aware that I was being watched as I crossed the sparing pit but quickly learned that I still wasn't liked by those my own age. I froze when I heard a roar and turned to see a lioness charging towards me with teeth and claws drawn.

Instinct kicked in and I shifted to mid form in a beat barely managing to dodge to one side. I had gotten to my feet when she had leaped towards me and remembering what I had done back on the last full night hunt, I jumped, planting both hands on her head and flipped over her to land unsteadily on my paws as she took a nose dive and skid through the snowy lawn which only made her growl louder now with her ego mocked.

The performance had caused me a large deal of pain from my still injured shoulder and hip, which was nearly so painful it was blinding. I was running on adrenaline when she charged again, barely ducking and diving out of the felines way as she made every effort to get a blow in. Sharp claws coming way too close to my face and neck on several occasions. It was alarming that Anders hadn't stopped the fight but a cursory glance his direction showed he was looking the other way talking with another lioness who was, out of the corner of her eye, watching and clearly not distressed at all.

During training and sparing, scratching and biting wasn't forbidden but it was strictly against the rules to do what this female was doing, which was going purely for a killing bite or blow. She aimed especially at my neck, face and the vital areas on my torso.

"We can't keep this up!" I heard Lien inside my head as I just dodged a swipe over my chest, claws cutting through the top I had on. She was right of course as I was panting and slowing down due to the pain my hip and shoulder was putting me through. All it took was a wrong step and she had rammed her head against my bad hip drawing a wailing yelp from me and causing me to collapse sideways to the ground.

With only what could be described as a smirk of triumph on her face when I looked up at her. She launched at me, claws drawn, mouth opened for a death kill. I put my arms up to cover my face while squeezing my eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable and screamed loudly. Yet what I was expecting didn't come and instead all I head was loud snarling, a grunt of effort and the sound of a body landing and rolling on the ground.

Opening my eyes slowly I looked up to see I was protectively in the shadow of Beta Anders who was in his full, four legged black fluffy glory and looking over at the female lion with anger, his muzzle pulled into a snarl as he stared her down. She didn't quite get the message of how much trouble she was in till Beta Leon, in mid form walked over and grabbed her by the scruff, lifting her to be face to face with him. He gave a loud angry roar directly into her face then tossed her to one side when she finally realised she was in trouble as he stormed after her.

"Are you ok? Omega Neil?" Anders asked drawing my gaze up to see him looking down at me now back in mid form. I couldn't help but gawk up at him for a moment and nod a little before it degraded to shaking my head slowly starting to whimper. My hip and shoulder were in agony, burning coming from them in waves that only seemed to get worse when I tried to get up. He reached down to gently lift me into his arms and out of the arena. Sitting me down tenderly on a bench as I started softly crying and whimpering, the adrenalin wearing off causing me to start to shake a little.

"I am sorry that I didn't stop it earlier... she also should not have engaged you," he said trying to calm me and gave a few light inspecting sniffs over me "Are you bleeding anywhere, Omega Neil?"

"M...my hip hurts." I said simply and he nodded. I wasn't insulted by his use of the 'Omega' moniker, from him it was more a term of endearment towards me. It was also a sign that he was not angry with me and simply focusing on his job at the moment looking out for an injured member of his beloved pack.

"Take a moment, breath, calm yourself," he said softly "I'll take you inside to see Shelly, today is her day off so she is probably in the kitchen making cookies or something similar, she loves baking." I nodded panting and wiping my eyes and trying to gather myself.

"L...L...Luna Ruben n...needs assistance g...getting up to m...my room," I said once I had gathered myself a little panting, drawing deep breaths "H...he wanted to keep me c...company while I decorated but I c...can't lift him... I w...was coming to get you f...for that reason... I..I'll be ok, I just n...need a few moments." he nodded and gave a smile.

"Ok, I understand, I will meet you up in your room with Shelly as well," he told me as he straightened up giving me a pat to the head between the ears which helped calm me in ways he probably would never know "I must say you impress me, so badly shaken and injured and your more concerned for Luna Ruben than yourself." he adds with a smile before walking off. It took me another couple of minutes before I collected myself enough to gingerly stand up and make my way back inside.

I limped my way back towards where I had left Ruben and was surprised to see he and everything else wasn't there any more. I gave a sigh figuring that someone had taken the vacuum and packed away the decorations. Heading back upstairs was tricky as I needed to take one step at a time and hold onto the rail like it was my only lifeline.

"There you are," Shelly declared as I made my way into my room. Anders walked over to help me up the last few steps into the room then sat me gingerly on the bed "Was about to send Lurch looking for you." Anders gave a typical Lurch rumble making Ruban chuckle.

"Sorry Doc... it's been hard to get up the stairs, my hip has been causing me the pain you usually do." I answered her with a cheeky smile as I looked to Ruben who was sitting in one of the chairs, Yelas sitting on his lap and around him were the boxes of decorations and the vacuum as well.

"I thought as much... ok human form, pants down, it's hard to see stitches through fur," she says simply and Anders chuckled showing that he wasn't upset by her wanting someone other than him stripping in front of her "Just to your underwear, I'll look at your hip." sighing I nodded and changed back. Lien trotted over to join Yelas on Luna Rubens lap and I couldn't help but feel a small spike of jealousy. I pulled off my pants and then laid on my good side and pulled the band of my underwear down to show the bandages underneath.

She gave a sigh and carefully started to peel off the bandages which had started to stain red once more. Looking the area over she gently tugged on a few of the stitches and I groaned and cringed as she did.

"Well luckily you didn't pull any stitches," she said "That's the good news... the bad news is it has opened a bit, your moving around has opened it in a few spots sadly." I sighed nodding and if I had them, my ears would have perked when Ruben tried to get a better look.

"Her head butting the area probably didn't help that..." I added getting a soft growl from Anders.

"There's another thing I'll need to tell Callen... that's definitely breaking the rules of engagement in the sparing pit. Even if she shouldn't have engaged you in the first place." he said watching as she added a new bandage to my hip.

"Ok, good to go, just take it easy... oh and this!" she said handing over a painkiller while smiling, followed quickly with a glass of water "You can shift if you want to but still, don't shift too often ok? It puts stress on the stitches." I nodded as I took the pill and water offered.

"Thank you... both of you," I said with a soft smile and they nodded before walking out "I'm guessing Anders told you?" I asked looking over to Ruben who simply chuckled.

"He did, I'm sorry it happened... I'm sure if you were fine you would have handed her her ass." he said chucking more and I smiled and nodded.

"If not I would have managed to avoid her for a while till she was worn out, lions have a lower stamina level than foxes or wolves do." I said with a smile and slowly got up trying not to put any weight on my sore side "So... you offered to help me decorate, still willing to?"

"Like you need to ask," he said pointing to the boxes but didn't make a move to get up "I do want to ask something though... Your fighting style... is it like how everyone else trains?" I had to think of that for a moment. I had never really been trained but I had watched when I had the chance and picked up a lot of what they did.

"Um... yeah I guess so..." I admitted "I never really got a chance to be trained but I learned by watching them mostly... why?"

"Because I think I know of a way to punish Simba... and for you to show you aren't a pushover," he said with a big smile and with a bit of effort started to get up from his chair to hop around it to the boxes "But first, lets decorate, we can talk about that later, when Callen is back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this chapter on posts will be once a month.


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